


underlying secrets in the wake of tomorrow

by wholesome_sliced_bread



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: 1700s Sea Shanties, Blood and Injury, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Mild Blood, Other, Sentient Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's), Slow Burn, do these count as spoilers?, springlock failure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24779794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholesome_sliced_bread/pseuds/wholesome_sliced_bread
Summary: Desperate for a job, Y/n finally gets hastily accepted at a run-down but well loved pizzeria, featuring four friendly animatronics. After meeting her coworkers and getting through the first week, things start to go down a darker path. Not expecting any of the horrors thrown at her, she desperately tries to survive each and every shift. Nothing seems to go right as she uncovers a mystery buried underneath sorrow and rage- as well as uncovering odd feelings. With the promise of death just around the corner, will she make it out of this hell alive?
Relationships: Animatronics (Five Nights at Freddy's)/Reader (Platonic), Freddy Fazbear/Reader
Comments: 60
Kudos: 189





	1. first day

_You need this job_ , you remind yourself. Sure, the run-down pizza place didn’t look too… promising, but you still needed the money. Plus it was the first place to accept your rushed excuse of a résumé. You’re about 99% certain they didn’t even look at it, just as desperate for employees as you were for employment.

  
Stepping inside, you were immediately greeted with a million smells at once; fresh pizza, _stale pizza_ , sweaty kids running and screaming, looking almost as greasy as the things on the menu, hints of… mold? ( _Yuck_ , you think) There also seemed to be something beneath all that… You inhale carefully, trying to take it in. It remained buried by everything else. You shrug it off.

  
Walking to the front desk, you put on a smile. “Hi!” you greet the man standing there. He flashes back a weary smile, and you notice the bags under his eyes.

  
“How can I help you?” he asks kindly.

  
“Oh, it’s my first day here,” you explain. “I just got accepted as an employee, and-”

  
“Oh!” The man straightens himself, stepping in front of the front desk. “Right, my name is Jeremy! It’s really nice to meet you,” Jeremy introduces himself, grinning. “Always great to have more ‘Fazbear Friends’.”

  
You nod, following him as he leads you into the main room. “I’m Y/n.”

  
“Well, Y/n, welcome to the _one_ , the _only_ , Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!” Jeremy throws his hands up, standing in front of the stage. Despite his excited smile, you notice his “act” doesn’t reach his eyes. He looks tired. Exhausted. Almost stiff, like he was afraid. On the stage you glance up at the robotic animals. You bothered to learn their names- Bonnie the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Freddy Fazbear himself. Their eyes are glassy, staring ahead at nothing. You feel a shiver roll down your spine. They’re quite creepy.

  
Jeremy notices your almost-grimace and nods. “Yeah… I don’t understand how kids love ‘em so much. Maybe it’s the child wonder blocking out the creepiness, huh?” he jokes, returning to your side and nudging you. You chuckle, agreeing.

  
“Anyways,” Jeremy continues, “I’m not the one who’s going to be showing you the ropes around here. That’ll be Carolynn. She’s riiiiiight over… there.” He points and you turn, spotting a larger woman with a bright smile, gently pushing some curious kids away from the kitchen’s doors.

  
“Go tell her your situation and she’ll show you around. I gotta get back to the front desk. Good luck!” Jeremy gives you a thumbs up and walks away.

  
You approach Carolynn and tap her on the shoulder. She turns, momentarily surprised before smiling. “Uh, hi, I’m Y/n,” you tell her. “It’s my first day, and-”

  
Carolynn squeals, bouncing on her toes. “Oh! A new employee, how _exciting_! It’s been forever since we’ve seen a new face, y’know?” Immediately you find yourself smiling and relaxing. Her mood is contagious; You like her instantly.

  
“C’mon, follow me! I’ll show you how to take orders and deliver food and drinks and…”

  
You follow her around the place as she shows you the different closets with cleaning supplies, hallways, backrooms, and parts and services room. She tells you how to perform basic maintenance on the animatronics, as well as how to use certain tools on them. You find it kinda interesting, listening and nodding with everything she says. Then you’re shown how to take orders and such, something not that difficult for you. Finally you see the break room, a small part of the building down one of the long hallways filled with a large table, some chairs, and a very old, busted TV.

  
“So that’s basically it!” Carolynn says with a clap and a bright smile. “Any questions?”

  
You shake your head, feeling pretty good. Things have been going well!

  
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Carolynn suddenly gasps, snapping. “If you’re closing the place up for the night, leave before 12. This rule is _really_ important, so don’t forget.”

  
You feel a twitch of curiosity. “What?”

  
“Just… leave before 12 and you should be fine.” Carolynn’s smile falters for a moment.

  
“Why? Will something happen if I don’t?” you press, feeling a little concerned.

  
“Let’s just say… Freddy and his friends don’t like it if you stay after 12!”

  
“Is it something with the management?” you guess, crossing your arms. Carolynn nods quickly, eyes shifting away from your face.

“Something like that… And it’s when our night guard starts their shift.”

  
“Woah, woah, woah,” you stammer, shaking your hands, “who would break into a _pizza place_?”

  
Carolynn shrugs, biting her lip and shuffling her feet. “Oh, it’s more to keep an eye on the animatronics… Make sure nothing happens to them, y’know?”

  
“Right,” you mutter, suspicious. But of what? What could this place possibly want to hide? Bugs in the pizza or something?

  
“Anyways,” Carolynn continues, smile returning almost as quickly as it left, “your shift is until the end of the day, right?” You nod, remembering that the brief “training” you just had was basically all day.

  
“Great, so we can finish up today by cleaning off the tables.”

  
You and Carolynn return to the main room and you’re surprised to find it basically empty. The windows let in the fading sunlight, and you realize it must be almost 8.

  
“Time really flew by, huh?” Carolynn grins, noticing your surprised glances out the windows. “Cleaning everything up might take an hour or two. It was pretty busy today.”

  
You nod, silent, and get to work, washing off the greasy tables and picking up dropped trash and bottles. You don’t say much, but Carolynn easily fills the silence by telling you stories of the things that have happened before you arrived. It only takes 30 minutes for you to realize with a start that the building is empty except for you two. You’re by the stage working on the floor while Carolynn is taking out the garbage near the back, still chatting with you. Her voice is loud and clear, easily reaching you so you don’t feel too uneasy.

  
After ducking under one of the tables to pick up a stray wrapper, your neck prickles, hair standing on end. Someone is watching you. You try to ignore it, reaching for more trash when you feel a presence behind you. Someone is reaching for you.

  
With a yelp, you jump up, slamming your head into the table. You hear Carolynn cut off with a squawk of surprise, and see her peek around a corner, concerned.

  
“Are you okay, Y/n?” she calls, watching you clumsily get to your feet. The wrapper falls from in between your fingers.

  
“I’m-” You spin around, heart beating wildly, but nothing is there. You’re alone. “I’m okay… Just a little on end, I guess.” Your eyes drift over to the three animals on the stage. Something about them… Just paranoia, you tell yourself, exhaling. _But was Freddy staring at you, just barely?_

  
You shake your head and walk away from the stage to dispose of the trash you’ve picked up. Everything else seems fine, and Carolynn comes back from the dumpsters, dusting herself off. She gives you a bright smile.

  
“Well, wasn’t that an easy first day?” she chirps, gliding over to you. “Tomorrow you’ll be formally introduced to the rest of the employees. I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to meet you!”

  
You chuckle, amused with her enthusiasm, but doubting that anyone could be as pleased to meet you as Carolynn had been. You both head out, locking the place as you exit.

You distantly wonder what the night shift must be like, all alone, in a place like this…


	2. the week

You arrive bright and early to the pizzeria for your second day. You nod at Jeremy, passing him at the front desk, and notice he looks a little worse than yesterday. You stop for a moment, studying him.

“Are you alright?” you ask, a little concerned. Jeremy looks up, almost surprised to see you standing there. He smiles slowly.

“Yeah, just-” He breaks off to yawn. “Tired.”

“Did you get any sleep at all?”

Jeremy shrugs, staring down at the desk. “Not really, since I’m on the night shift…”

“Woah, _you’re_ the night guard?” you exclaim. Jeremy nods.

“Sometimes.”

“Dude, you should consider taking some breaks from that to get some sleep…” you advise.

“Yeah, I know. I get by, though.”

With that, you’re through the doors and into the main room. Carolynn bounces up to you, and immediately leads you away to meet everyone else. The other employees are all lined up, name tags visible, and at first glance you can tell why you were accepted for a job so quickly.

_There’s barely anyone else._ Maybe 5 or 6 other employees stand before you, some grinning, some almost scowling.

A shorter guy named Fritz grins at you, and you return the gesture. He’s usually a night guard but on the days when someone else takes over, he helps out during the day.

Another employee, Jordan, nods at you. At first you can’t tell their gender, but then notice an almost hidden sticker reading “they/them”. _Oh_ , you realize, _must be their pronouns_. They seem nice enough, and you offer the same smile at them that you gave to Fritz.

Next is Nick, one of the chefs. He doesn’t smile, and it doesn’t look like he’s shaved in a little while, stubble coming in. Your smile drops a little, and he takes notice, squinting. You don’t like him as much as the others.

Another chef, Jennifer, lazily almost-smirks at you, one corner of her mouth tilting up. Her hair is pulled up in a high ponytail, running down her back like a silky waterfall. You notice she’s… gorgeous. Attractive in a way where you just can’t help but notice, regardless of sexuality.

Finally, the janitor and mechanic, Matt, who beams at you. He radiates pure sunshine energy, and it feels like your soul is lifted just by being near him. You wonder how he manages to be around any of the animatronics enough to fix them, and idly take notice of his grease-covered hands.

“There’s also Mike,” Carolynn continues thoughtfully, “but he’s never here for the day shift. Night shift only.”

“Right…” you mumble, watching as everyone returns to their jobs. “So you took orders and stuff _by yourself_?”

Carolynn laughs, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. “Yup. It’s not that hard, usually, but on the busy days… Oh well, at least you’re here to help me now!” You feel yourself relax. Maybe things wouldn’t turn out so terrible after all.

“Do you smell… smoke?”

“ _FIRE! FIRE IN THE KITCHEN!_ ”

You jump, hearing shrieks coming from behind the two doors of the kitchen. You notice smoke steadily making its way through, into the main room. You freeze up, looking over to Carolynn. She just hums and continues sweeping.

“Carolynn, what-” you start, but she cuts you off.

“Happens usually once a week, don’t worry. We’ve got extra fire extinguishers,” she explains calmly, not looking up.

“Are you sure that-”

“Everything is fine,” she cuts you off again, and you notice the screams dying down and the sound of one of the fire extinguishers. You relax, but only a little.

“How is there a fire ‘usually once a week’?” you ask, confused and nervous.

“Company’s cheap, y’know?” Carolynn replies, not exactly answering the question. “Nick and Jen have everything under control. They’re used to it by now.”

“…Okay…”

“Oh my god- _Y/N! GET THAT CHILD AWAY FROM BONNIE!_ ”

You snap up to see a child clumsily attempting to climb the stage to reach Bonnie, whose arms were twitching in sporadic movements. Matt was currently struggling to reach the compartment located on his back to fix the issue.

Thinking quickly, you dash up to the stage and snatch the child away. The kid cries out, reaching for Bonnie, as Matt finally connects some wires or something to fix him. Bonnie’s arms lower, and he appears to turn off.

You’re panting, still holding the kid, adrenaline still running high. Matt is wheezing too, and you realize Bonnie must have hit him at some point. You hear Carolynn shriek and rush to his aid. The child’s parents scramble over to you, apologizing over and over when you hand them their kid back.

You stand up, swallowing, and look up to the stage to see Carolynn helping Matt down. He’s laughing about it, but you remember the panic you saw on his face.

You wipe away the sweat from your forehead, finally calming down. Your muscles feel weak, like you just ran a marathon instead of the 10 feet it took to reach the stage. Suddenly _you_ feel like laughing.

“ _GET IT OFF ME_!” Fritz screeches, jumping and trying to reach for something behind him.

“Oh my god, just _calm down_ ,” Nick grumbles, forcibly stopping him by grabbing his shoulders. Fritz whimpers, eyes dancing around wildly. Nick turns him around and carefully grabs something off of his back with a napkin. A squirming spider.

Immediately, Fritz leaps away, shuddering. “That thing is _huge_!” he cries, scrambling away. Nick just sighs, disposing of it in a nearby trash can. You had watched the whole fiasco happen, a big black spider dropping onto Fritz’s back while he was scolding some children for trying to get into the employees only parts of the building. You tried to hold in your snickers, understanding the fear that must’ve ran through him. You’d never really been fond of spiders. Or any bugs, for that matter.

Fritz stumbles up to you, sighing heavily. “I _hate_ when spiders are on me…”

You silently agree.

“Hey, is that… an entire pizza… in Chica’s mouth?”

“What?”

You eye Jeremy, who just spoke up, pointing towards the stage. Your eyes follow where he’s pointing, and inhale sharply. Indeed, an _entire_ pizza has been shoved into the chicken’s mouth.

“What the hell…” you whisper, frown slowly melting into a smile.

Jeremy barks out a laugh and that makes you break into giggles. After a few moments of laughing, out of the corner of your eye you notice Carolynn dash up to the stage to rip the pizza out of Chica’s mouth. It’s stuck. You and Jeremy double over, wheezing.

“How does an entire pizza-” Jeremy laughs, pausing to breathe, “how does that get into an animatronic’s _mouth_?”

You’re too busy struggling to breathe through your laughing fit to answer.

“Closing time!” You hear Carolynn call out in a sing-song voice. Your mouth lifts into a tired smile. It’d been a tough day, and the customers had seemed as if they just kept piling in.

Everyone else had already left and it was up to you and Carolynn to clean up before the night shift started. That was fine by you, though. Soft hip-hop music was playing through a portable speaker one of the other employees had brought to share, and between that and Carolynn’s stories, you were at ease.

“Tired, Y/n?” Carolynn asks, popping around a corner to grin at you. You nod, feeling drowsy. “Don’t worry, after today, the pizzeria’s closed. This weekend is the repair weekend, so it’ll be easy!”

“Repair weekend?” you ask, straightening up and leaning on your broom.

“We take the weekend to fix up the animatronics and, y’know, any tables or chairs. A few days to clean things up so everything doesn’t fall apart. We do them usually, like, once every two months,” Carolynn explains.

“Ohh, I see.”

The evening dissolves into a comfortable silence, with you sweeping and picking up trash, and with Carolynn wiping down tables. You don’t notice how the animatronic’s eyes follow you from the stage.

The time almost flies by, and before you know it, it’s dark out. Carolynn comes up to you, yawning, and places a hand on your shoulder.

“It’s almost 12,” she tells you, noticing you finishing up with sweeping up stray tickets. “Remember to leave before then.”

You nod, focusing more on the broom in your hands, and trying to push the tiredness away. Faintly you hear the front door open and close with the soft ringing of a bell. You sigh, deciding that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you stayed a few more minutes passed 12.

You finish sweeping in the corner of the main party room and head over to the main tables, flicking away dirt and food. It’s a little much, but you’re trying to make your way to the supply closet to put away the broom.

You close the door feeling a little satisfied with the day’s work, but then immediately shiver harshly. Something is wrong. Your heart begins to pound wildly and you tense up.

You swallow, and force yourself to slowly turn around, eyes pointed at the ground. There’s _someone_ looming over you. Your breathing quickens and you make yourself look up. _Slowly_ . You see… _brown feet_?

Oh no.

_Oh no_.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

The voice is low and gruff. And angry.

What time was it?

Your eyes dart to the watch on your arm. 12:01. Then, you look up. You inhale.

The brown, furry face of Freddy Fazbear is glaring down at you.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment and tell me if i've made any mistakes or anything! decided this'll probably be a more subtle freddy x reader thing, if that's okay. hope you guys enjoy :)


	3. after 12

Your stomach sinks.

Eyes wide, you stammer out, “W-What…?”

He looks frustrated at having to repeat himself. And angry. Very, very angry. “ _ You shouldn’t be here _ .”

Okay well now you feel ridiculous, talking to an animatronic bear and whatnot. A million questions swarmed your head. How was this possible? There was no way these things were advanced enough to be, like,  _ AIs _ or something! Yet, here he is,  _ Freddy Fazbear himself _ , saying you shouldn’t be… here? As in, near the supply closet? Or in the entire restaurant?

You inhale shakily. “I was just… leaving.”

“Oh no you’re not,” Freddy spits, grabbing your arm with his gigantic furred hand. You swallow a cry of pain. “Endoskeletons are not permitted to wander without their suits.”

Then he’s dragging you down the hallway towards the Parts and Services room. You yelp when his grip on your arm tightens, and you struggle to fight against him.  _ He’s way too strong _ .

“Wait- Wait! I’m not an endoskeleton!” you yell, beginning to panic. Freddy continues to drag you down the hallway. Your breathing is quickening, heart pounding in your chest.

“You can’t lie to me,” the thing dragging you snarls. “I can clearly see that you are a bare endoskeleton.”

“You can’t see! You’re a  _ robot _ !”

You get no response.

Finally reaching the Parts and Services room, the door is flung open and you’re shoved inside. Your only escape is then slammed shut and locked as Freddy lumbers into the room. You see him pull something out and force yourself not to faint or something. A spare suit is collapsed onto the floor, eyes hollow and empty.

Your arm is grabbed again and that sets you off. You scream and kick, begging for help, crying out for  _ anyone _ , as you're steadily pushed towards the suit.

You begin to sob, screams dying in your raw throat. “Please, no,” you whisper, feeling the fight suddenly drain out of you. Something is wrong. You’re losing control of your limbs, and they begin to go limp in the animatronic bear’s grip. Your head is growing fuzzy with some sort of echoing lullaby.

Carefully,  _ slowly _ , he sets you into the spare suit. You’re so tired, so weak. It feels like you’re floating. The tears are drying on your face, eyelids drooping. The spare mascot’s head is being dropped onto yours…

The door is flung open with a terrifying screech. It seems to reverberate around the room, and you force yourself to straighten up. Stars dance in front of you and you see a figure in the doorway. They speak and the words don’t make sense. You’re losing yourself.

Your eyes close again and reopen as you’re once again being dragged down a hallway. You hiccup, arms feeling almost wet.

“Are you okay?” you hear somebody, a man, speaking to you in a concerned voice. “He didn’t actually…  _ stuff you _ , did he?” The voice sounds like it’s drifting around your head.

Your mouth refuses to move so you attempt to shake your head, finally feeling connection to your limbs. The ringing in your head is calming down and the world stops spinning. You cough, managing to stand up and walk with the person.

The main room comes into view and you finally figure out you both are heading for the exit. The two front doors are swung open and the other guy sits you down on the curb next to the building. Your vision clears.

A man is staring at you with a concerned, almost angry expression. He looks a bit older, maybe in his thirties, and wears the regular Fazbear uniform with a badge reading “security.” This must be Mike, the night guard.

“Are you okay?” he asks, standing back to study you. You nod, sighing.

“I think so…” you reply, shivering. Your arms are wet, and you glance at them to see your own uniform’s sleeves turning a deep scarlet. “Oh, shit…”

“Yeah, he just barely got you. You should get home to take care of that. Um… I’m Mike,” Mike introduces himself, forcing a smile. It comes out as more of a grimace.

“The night guard, right?” you ask, trying to return the smile. Mike nods and you stand, wobbling a bit.

“You have bandages at home, right?”

You think back to your small studio apartment and nod, though you aren’t so sure.

“Alright, well, I need… to go to work,” Mike mutters, glancing back to the front doors. “I’m sure the boss will understand why I was late if I tell him. Don’t stay after 12 next time, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll remember now,” you laugh softly despite there being no humor in his words. Mike finally gives you a real smile and you watch him head back to the front doors.

As you’re walking towards your car suddenly things start to not make sense. What happened back there? Are the animatronics  _ alive _ ? Why did you suddenly start to lose consciousness? What was that distant lullaby you heard?

You get inside and begin to head home, mind wandering elsewhere. Fatigue drags at your body and you let out a sigh of relief when you reach the apartment complex.

You fling your door open and nearly collapse onto the floor. You push yourself into your small bedroom and finally fall into bed. The moment your head hits the pillow you’re snoring. You fall asleep fully clothed.

Dreams of brown bears and spare suits haunt you.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, please tell me if i've made any mistakes. sorry the chapter was short, the next one will be longer! right now freddy isn't being too nice, is he? nah, he'll get better. probably. anyways, hope you're enjoying this! i put my effort into giving y'all more chapters


	4. dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **trigger warning?** some mild descriptions of cleaning wounds and a nightmare.
> 
> filler chapter, but it's kinda an important one. starting to have a vague idea of where to take this

You wake up and groan. After a moment of laying in bed you shoot up, panicking. You’re gonna be late for work!

Wait.

Oh yeah, you took off today.  _ And  _ forgot to tell Carolynn that, so she’ll be worried. You have no way to contact her so you’ll just tell her you took off when you come back Monday.

You huff, falling back into bed. Your arms itch. You glance over and see red stains on your bedsheets. Oh. Right. Your injuries.

You make yourself sit up and silently curse. Better take care of them now rather than later.

It’s a tiresome process, peeling back your ripped work uniform to survey the damage done. Funny, you don’t even remember being hurt. What happened?

You notice some rough scrapes and scratches down both arms, probably from those metal pieces you felt poking through that spare suit when you were… You shake the thought away and get to work, washing both arms in your bathroom sink. The water running down turns red and you shudder, wanting to look away.

It begins to mildly burn when you rub soap onto both arms, but you grit your teeth and scrub away the rest of the blood. After, you dry them off with a spare towel you have. The damage isn’t too bad, you notice, but it would probably be better to cover them with bandages. You don’t have any bandages, however, so band-aids will have to do.

After using way too many to cover the scratches on your arms, you decide to ignore your bed and fall onto the two-person couch for a nap.

You shift uncomfortably, feeling a heavy draft. Eyes blinking open, you notice you’re lying on a cold, damp floor that looks to be tile. The floor at Freddy’s? You see a hallway that seems to stretch into the darkness, something ominous, that was lined with pictures drawn by children. Thick crayon lines scribbled out brown bears, purple rabbits, and yellow chickens, as well as red foxes. The four main animatronics. The lights overhead flicker, with a weak, yellow glow. It has to be Freddy’s, you conclude, seeing the star decorations hanging from the ceiling and the birthday banners. But  _ where _ in Freddy’s?

You stand, confusion clouding your head. You start to walk down the hallway, inhaling the musty scent of dust and old pizza. It doesn’t seem to lead anywhere, going on and on. You grumble something under your breath and continue walking.

It really does lead nowhere, and you stop for a moment, leaning against the wall. You huff, suddenly out of breath, and close your eyes. Suddenly you hear a low chuckle. Tensing up, you listen as it turns into laughter. The voice sounds warped, almost glitching.

“Hello?” you call, turning around. The hall you just walked through was shrouded in darkness. You see nothing. The laughter surrounds you. It suffocates you.

“Hello?” you try again. “Is anyone there?” You squint at the shadows, seeing two bright lights poking out.

“How charming,” the thing purrs, refusing to step into the light. “What’s a little thing like you doing in a place like this?” It’s voice is odd. There’s something off about it that you can’t quite place.

“What the hell…?” you mutter, stepping back. “Who are you?  _ What _ are you?”

More laughter. “That is not something for you to know, my dear. But I’ll tell you this,” it speaks slowly, making you shudder. “I am  _ everywhere _ . And I have seen  **everything** .”

“What does that mean?!” you demand. Your response is, once again, laughter. As if it’s mocking you. As if your fear is amusing. It probably is, to this entity.

Finally, it’s up close to your face. You cry out in surprise, stumbling back. It’s eyes are glowing and white, body inky black and… floating? You can barely make out any features, it’s all just… shadows.

“I don’t think you understand the ride you are in for,” it hisses, almost grinning in a sick, twisted way. “The children are angry, dear Y/n. Their anger has sprouted life in some very odd places. I don’t think you’ll be pleased…”

You sputter out nonsense, completely baffled by this  _ thing _ . It cackles, leaning back before vanishing. You breathe deeply, before your nose is invaded with the horrid smell of… rotting flesh? You cough, feeling nauseous with the aroma surrounding you. You see a dark red slithering down the walls from the ceiling. After the rot, the sharp tang of metal arises.  _ Blood _ .

You let out a terrified scream as the blood splatters onto your shoulder and legs, oozing out from underneath you. It’s everywhere, in your eyes and mouth. The dark is closing in on you. You-

Your eyes snap open and you’re breathing heavily. You’re lying against the couch, crammed into the cushions. Groaning, you sit up. You remember the terrible nightmare and immediately push it away, trying not to gag at the ending. You can still smell it. Maybe it’d be best to get up now.

You sit up, grumbling under your breath, and glance out the window. It looks to be late afternoon. You really slept all day, huh? The rest of the day might be good to get some chores done.

You spend the remaining hours cleaning up and doing dishes. Time passes slowly and your mind wanders. You think about Freddy’s, and you think about  _ the  _ Freddy. Mostly, however, you think about nothing. You blankly go through chores, eating dinner in between, until it’s time to go to bed. You aren’t very tired, though.

Either way you take a quick shower and fall into bed, sighing. Eventually, after who knows how long tossing and turning, you slip into a dreamless sleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please tell me if i've made any mistakes! it means a lot


	5. monday

Monday rolls around, and you push yourself out of bed and to work. Walking in you nod at Jeremy and enter the main room. Immediately Carolynn looks up, and runs over to you.

“Y/n!” she cries, embracing you quickly. “Where were you when-”

“I’m taking off on weekends to, uh, fix stuff around my apartment,” you explain quickly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed-”

You wave your hands, smiling softly. “No, it’s okay. Maybe I’ll stay every once in a while. Just for ‘repair weekends’?” Carolynn grins, kinda bouncing on her feet.

“Yes! Yes. It really is a lot of fun, y’know,” she adds, looking almost sheepish. “The boss relaxes a lot more, we bring in some snacks…”

You and Carolynn chat a bit more while setting up for some sort of celebration in one of the party rooms. You consider telling her about your… encounter, when you had overstayed your visit, but decide against it. She’d think you’d gone mad.

Finishing up, you both head back to the main room to see a few families and kids sitting at the different booths. The animatronics were busy singing some stupid song or something, so you mostly ignored them. However, during some sparse moments when you were alone, you felt as if there were eyes on you. Sometimes it felt like three pairs of eyes, and sometimes it felt like one. Either way it sent harsh shivers down your spine, like some sort of cliché horror trope, though that was probably accurate.

The day went by with, surprisingly, no big incidents happening. That was… odd. Usually  _ at least _ one thing went wrong. It could range from a kid climbing the walls to a bathroom overflowing, and it was always terrifying. You hoped today would be the one day where it didn’t erupt into chaos.

You and Carolynn were working through the day together, exchanging stories and laughs, when suddenly a scream pierces through the air. Too bad for the idea of a normal, easy day. You both yelp in surprise, eyes widening, and rush over to the sound.

It was a kid who had screamed, and thankfully, they looked okay. Just scared, and they had a good reason to be.

On stage, all hell had broken loose. The animatronics were glitching out.  _ Horrifically _ . Bonnie had thrown his guitar across the stage, and his foot was kicking at the ground.  _ Weren’t their feet supposed to be bolted to the stage during the day?  _ Chica’s arms were twisting around, beak unhinged and twitching in sporadic movements. And Freddy…

You assumed his head had been spinning from side to side before, but the moment you ran into the room, it had snapped over to stare at you. It was deeply unsettling, how his eyes were just…  _ looking  _ at you. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he had a reason to stare at you. But you did know better, and you knew these things were probably not normal animatronics.

You nudge Carolynn. “He’s looking at me,” you hiss, tensing up. She eyes you, then finally notices.

“That’s… not normal,” she mutters, staring back at Freddy on the stage. Yet his eyes stay on you. “He looks like he actually  _ sees _ you.”

“I think he does,” you whisper, feeling dread crawl down your back.

“Don’t be silly,” Carolynn says, though she looks equally creeped out and unsure.

Freddy’s arm moves. You inhale. His eyes are locked onto yours, and he’s reaching, reaching out…

Reaching for you.

“We- we need to do something,” Carolynn stammers, ripping her eyes away from Freddy.

“‘ _ We _ ’?” you repeat, still staring at Freddy, horrified. “No. This is Matt’s problem. This is the boss’s problem!” You throw your hands up for emphasis.

“But we- we need to, like, calm them down or something!” Carolynn shoots back at you, and you freeze up.

“Wh- ‘ _ calm them down _ ’?! What are they,  _ alive _ ?” Though, even as you’re saying it, you’re beginning to doubt that they aren’t.

You inhale shakily and look around. The place has dissolved into utter chaos. Parents are dragging their children away from the stage, some out the front door. Several kiddies are crying, making obnoxious sounds that ring in your ears. You turn and see Matt running towards the stage with a tool kit, while the other employees emerge from wherever, shouting encouragement at him.

_ It must be  _ **_terrifying_ ** _ to fix those things _ , you think with a pang of sympathy. Watching poor Matt struggling to even get  _ near  _ the animatronics makes you almost want to jump up on the stage and help him. Carolynn looks like she wants to do the same, biting her lip, face the definition of nervous.

Somebody screams. You hear the shrill sound of wood snapping and splintering. Your blood runs cold.

He’s free.

_ He’s free _ .

Freddy had ripped his feet from the stage and was walking.  _ Walking towards you _ . It feels like you should scream, or stumble back, or get away. Yet there you are, frozen in place, watching with your mouth hanging open slightly as the brown bear animatronic steadily makes his way towards you.

Carolynn turns,  _ finally  _ noticing that he’s approaching the both of you, and lets out a screech.

“Oh my god!” she cries, hands flying up. “Is he- he’s coming towards us!”

Indeed he is, and you also notice he’s halfway towards you by now. His eyes are trained on you, staring at you as if you were the only thing in the room, and you can’t help it as you feel your face flush. It's ridiculous that you're reacting like this, isn't it?

Freddy’s steps are slow. He’s taking his time to get over to you, and there’s plenty of time to run before he reaches you. Carolynn grabs your arm, ripping you backwards, and you yelp.

You notice Freddy’s ears perk up when you cry out in surprise. It almost looks as if there’s emotion flashing on his face. Carolynn is now dragging you away from him, and you stagger back up onto your feet to walk backwards. Your heart beats wildly and you don’t know if it’s out of fear or curiosity. You want to know  _ why  _ Freddy is coming up to you. What does he want with you?

You think you hear a lullaby through the chaos, and feel your eyelids droop. Carolynn huffs, still pulling you back, but Freddy is…

Freddy is right in front of you.

Your head grows foggy. Distant screams swirl around you. Somewhere far away you hear Matt grunting as he fights against Bonnie’s swinging arms. You hear the mechanical whirring of Chica’s torso twisting around. You hear Carolynn begging you to hold on.

Freddy reaches out to you.

The screams and chaos fade.

Your vision goes black.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, tell me if i've made any mistakes, i have no idea what im doing. i just want to give you some content that you're hopefully enjoying?? i'd love any feedback at all!


	6. waking up

“She’s waking up!”

“No she isn’t-”

“Hush, don’t you see? She’s moving! Being on the night shift all the time must’ve made you blind.”

“Wh-  _ Excuse me _ !”

You groan, head throbbing painfully. Cracking your eyes open the blurry forms of… Carolynn and Jeremy float before you? You feel drowsy and disorganized; your brain is practically wading through dense mud to reach the memory of what happened. You let your eyes close again out of pure exhaustion.

“Y/n!” you hear Carolynn’s shrill cry, and wince. Hands grab your shoulders softly. “Y/n, are you okay? Are you up?”

“Carolynn, leave her be and let her wake up on her own!” Jeremy scolds the worried woman, and the hands let go of you.

You slide your eyes open again, blinking against the harsh light shining above. You move your mouth to talk and it feels like speaking through a mouthful of taffy. “What… what happened?”

Carolynn and Jeremy are both looking at you with mixed expressions of relief and concern.

“How are you feeling?” Carolynn asks softly, as if she’s afraid of scaring you. You sit up, which takes  _ way  _ too much effort to do.

“I’m… ugh, what  _ happened _ ?” you repeat, leaving the question unanswered.

“You passed out,” Jeremy explains. “Thinking it might be dehydration.”

“Right,” you nod, not remembering the last time you had water.

“Oh, I’ll go get you a glass of water then!” Carolynn exclaims, standing up and rushing off. Jeremy sighs, seeming tired.

“You feeling okay, though?” he questions, turning to you.

“Yeah, I think so. What about…”

_ What about the animatronics _ ? You want to ask, but suddenly you see Matt running over.

“Guys!” he calls. “I  _ finally _ got the band to turn off… It was terrifying.”

“ _ Just now _ ? Wait- how long was I out for?” You think you remember something about Freddy approaching you, but it’s foggy.

“Not very long,” Jeremy answers, looking up at Matt.

“Freddy was the worst,” Matt recounts, groaning. He stretches briefly, tired. Seems like everyone is exhausted after the event.

“What do you mean?” You furrow your brows.

“He kept trying to…  _ leave _ . Felt like he was trying to go somewhere… It was creepy.”

Shivers race down your spine. Was he trying to get to you?  _ What is that thing’s deal with you _ ?

“They might be out of order for a little bit until I can recognize what went wrong,” Matt continues. “But other than that, they’re all fine.”

“I knew they’d end up malfunctioning one day,” Jeremy grumbles. “Those things are so old and gross.”

“Anyways, Y/n,” Matt looks over to you, fidgeting with his hands slightly, “I’m gonna need some help with repairs and I already asked the others… Nobody else wants to get near the animatronics, so…”

“You want me to help you?” you guess, sighing. Matt nods quickly, smiling. The last thing you want to do is stay in a stuffy room with three maybe-haunted robots, but you know how much Matt struggles with things like this. “Alright, I’ll help.”

Matt’s uneasy smile stretches into a wide grin. “Thank you so much,” he breathes, relieved. “A little help will make things so much easier.”

Carolynn approaches you three holding a glass of water. She smiles at Matt and kneels down to give you the glass. You drink it all in one go, suddenly realizing how dry your throat was.

“Thanks, Carolynn,” you say, grateful. You then shakily get to your feet, and the world spins only a little. You’re already feeling better.

“Maybe you could take the rest of the day off? I’m sure the boss won’t mind,” Carolynn suggests. You shake your head.

“Gonna help Matt with repairs.”

“Oh! Let’s get started on that,” Matt exclaims. “Maybe we can figure out what’s wrong before the end of the day.”

You don’t hesitate as he grabs your hand and leads you to the Parts and Services room.

The main three are there and you notice they’re all powered off. Bonnie and Freddy are leaning against the wall and Chica is sitting on the metal table in the center of the room. You glance over to Freddy, getting a sinking feeling in your gut. You quickly look away.

“In her… temper tantrum,” Matt starts, gliding over to Chica’s side, “she dislodged her beak from her head. See? It’s practically hanging off!”

You nod as he talks, not paying full attention. Your eyes keep drifting back to Freddy and you find yourself having to rip them away again and again. Why are you acting like this?

“Let’s reattach her beak,” Matt chimes, bringing you back to the situation. “Can you hand me my tool box?”

“Oh, sure.” You lean down grabbing the box overflowing with tools, and begin to hand it to him, but he doesn’t take it.

“Give me the screwdriver,” Matt requests, and you fish it out of the many tools crowding the box and give it to him. “Gotta undo these rusty screws…”

The day goes on like that, with you helping Matt with repairs and finding some time for small talk in between. You help him fix Chica’s beak and move on to patch up Bonnie’s foot. Matt discovers some frayed wires and leaking batteries which he deems the cause of the issues and promptly fixes them. Once Bonnie and Chica are done… it’s Freddy’s turn.

Matt sets him up on the metal table and starts to examine him. “Huh,” he mutters, squinting, “there doesn’t seem to be much damage…”

You aren’t looking up, hiding your face and picking at your nails. Something feels… off about the whole situation. A river running red flashes in your mind and you wonder why you thought of that compared to the feeling.

Matt continues mumbling under his breath as he inspects Freddy, checking the joints and swiveling his head around. He turns his head so it’s facing you. You suck in a sharp breath, feeling like a deer in headlights.

He blinks.

You nearly fall backwards, heart thundering in your chest.

“Matt,” you whisper harshly, not taking your eyes off Freddy. He blinks again, eyes drifting away for a moment before snapping back to stare at you.

“Hmm?”

“He’s- is he on?”

Matt looks up from behind Freddy’s back, hands still on some hidden panel. “Who, Freddy? No, he shouldn’t be-”

Freddy’s ears twitch. You watch in horror as he lifts himself off the table, metal creaking, and stands before you. Matt gasps. His lower jaw opens slightly in something that resembles a smile, and he raises a hand to his mouth.

Freddy clears his throat.

You scream.

Matt leaps over the table and connects something to the open panel in Freddy’s back. You watch sparks fly, and the animatronic bear’s entire face goes slack, mouth falling open fully. His eyelids slide down halfway, and his head lowers.

Your heart is pounding, body frozen up. Matt’s eyes are wide and his arm is still stretched out holding the thing in Freddy’s back. He looks like he’s trembling.

“That’s never happened before,” he stammers, voice cracking. “That’s- He…”

You stare at Freddy and begin to calm down once you’re sure he’s powered off. You shake your head, at a loss for words. “I… He was off before, right?”

Matt nods his head quickly. “I-I’m pretty sure. How did he turn back on? Is there- is it automatic?”

You shrug, still not taking your eyes off the unmoving bear. “I don’t think so… Let’s- let’s not tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Okay…” Matt agrees shakily, and you help him set up the animatronics against the wall to be taken on stage tomorrow. When your hands touch Freddy you swear you feel the thrum of electricity or  _ something _ running through his body. It reminds you of a heartbeat. You swallow, trying not to touch him too much.

The day is ending and while there should have been families just leaving now, the restaurant is empty. The setting sun rays filter in through the window casting the room in a hazy orange glow. Carolynn is sweeping in the corner and she sees you and Matt returning from the Parts and Services room.

She waves, smiling. “Welcome back! Y/n, I’ll clean up for the night, you can go home.”

“Oh, no,” you refuse, shaking your head. “Let me help. I’ll go clean off the tables…”

You wave goodbye at Matt and walk to the supply closet to grab a rag and spray bottle full of some cleaning solution. Opening the door, cold air rushes out at you. Again, something is… wrong. You hurry to grab the rag and bottle, but as you’re leaning down, you see two white dots blinking out at you from the darkness. A sudden flood of realization throws you back to that one nightmare you had, and you get the  _ hell  _ out of there, scurrying away as fast as possible.

You don’t speak when Carolynn does her usual routine of sharing stories, nodding and smiling along, despite the uneasy feeling in your stomach.

Oh well.

Tomorrow is another day.

  
_ (isn’t it?) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a vague idea where i kinda want things to go? its mostly scattered plot points with gaps in between. i'll try to make stuff more interesting for the next chapter!


	7. the plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not freddy-filled but an important chapter, setting everything up for the next chapter! i hope you enjoy :>

“Ohohoho! Back so soon, are we?”

Colors flash before your eyes. There are fish swimming through the air. The grass is purple. Before you, you notice a giant tree casting the ground in shade. Teacups and sugar cube trays are floating in mid-air. Lounging on a floating lawn chair is a blurry shadowed figure. It motions for you to take the lawn chair across from it.

You approach, feet climbing up invisible stairs to recline back into the lawn chair. A teacup overflowing with a light liquid drifts past you and you grab it. You look over to see the figure grinning at you with glowing teeth.

“How is the tea?” it asks politely, and you take a sip. The sharp metallic taste of pennies goes down your throat and you gag, coughing it up. You look back down to the tea to find the light has been replaced with a dark scarlet red. You splutter and drop the cup, wiping at your mouth frantically.

The shadow laughs, clearly amused. “Not your thing, huh? That’s okay. You’ll learn to enjoy it soon enough,” it drawls, slowly drinking from its own cup.

“Wh- wait, you again!” You remember the thing from before… Why is it back?

“Me again,” it agrees, dipping its head slightly.

“Why are you here? What do you want with me?” you demand, sitting up.

“My dear, _you_ are the one who came to _me_!” the thing giggles and you recoil, pushing yourself back into the lawn chair. It notices.

“Lawn chairs… wouldn’t be my first choice. What is it about lawn chairs that makes them so… boring?” it attempts at small talk.

You grit your teeth and spit out, “What do you want?” That earns you another light laugh.

“Oh, just to talk. Tell me, how’s the job been for you? Animatronics been _staying in their place_?”

The hair on the back of your neck rises. “How do you-”

“Like I told you before,” it cuts you off, “I. Am. _Everywhere_.” Goosebumps roll down your arms.

“Right…” you mutter, eyeing the teacups still drifting past you. The shadow across from you hums, downing whatever it has in its cup.

“Hm, you know, it’s quite surprising,” the thing begins, looking down at the remains of whatever it has left in its cup, “how _interested_ those bots are in you. Especially, ah, what’s his name…? The bear?”

“Freddy?” you guess, straightening up. Is it true, then? He’s- what, ‘interested’ in you? And so are the others? _What does that even mean_?

The shadow snaps, grinning. “Yes! That’s his name! Oh, what a delightful thing he is. Always so frustrated with his current situation, heh. Adorable, really.”

You frown, not following whatsoever. You open your mouth to ask but suddenly the shadow sets down his teacup and stands.

“Well, that’s all the time we have, dear Y/n! I look forward to our next ‘get-together’.” It grins again showing off glowing white teeth. You stay in place, watching it with furrowed brows. With a chuckle and a blinding white light that has you yelp, it disappears.

The world around you begins to shatter, pieces cracking off and tumbling into darkness. You scramble back against the chair, holding onto it. The ground falls from underneath you, and the chair gets sucked into the darkness. You scream, thrashing and twisting until-

Your eyes blink open slowly. You stay frozen in place, waiting until your heartbeat calms down.

_Not another nightmare_ , you think, sighing heavily. Glancing at your alarm clock you note how it’s only 2 in the morning. Groaning, you roll over, sinking into your mattress. Exhaustion tugs at your eyelids and you let them drop down, falling back asleep.

You don’t notice the two white dots staring at you from behind your dresser.

“Y/n, _please_ tell Jordan not to climb the ceiling fan!”

Carolynn’s call brings you over to one of the party rooms. Carolynn herself is busy putting down paper plates and party hats while you see Jordan standing on one of the chairs, eyeing the fan. You smirk.

“Climb the ceiling fan Jordan!” you tell them, holding back a laugh. “It’ll be great- maybe the fan won’t fall down!” Jordan grins, turning to you.

“Think so?” they beam, looking back to the fan. “Pass me that chair, will you?” You grab a nearby chair and hand it to them. Jordan steadily stacks the chairs underneath the ceiling fan and climbs onto them. It’s precarious and wobbly, and you watch in amazement as they scramble up onto the huge ceiling fan. Carolynn shrieks and you laugh as Jordan dangles their legs off the fan.

“I can see the entire room from up here!” they snicker, looking around with a smug look. “You both should try it.”

“Get down before you break the fan!” Carolynn urges, growing desperate. She’s practically on her toes, biting her lip in concern.

“Relax, ‘Care,” you say smoothly, “Jordan’s fine. They’ll come down soon.”

“I’m never coming down!” Jordan cries, laughing maniacally.

“Jordan, sweetheart, pl-”

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” someone screeches from another room. Jordan falls off the fan with a loud _thump_. Carolynn lets out a squawk of surprise.

“Wh-” you begin, but another scream cuts you off.

“MATT! EMERGENCY!”

Jordan grins, still laying on the floor. “Let’s see what’s up, shall we?” they hum. You nod frantically, also smiling. Jordan stands up and brushes the dust off their pants. You both look over to Carolynn expectantly. She waves her hands.

“You two go on without me. I’ll finish up here.”

You and Jordan shrug and head to where you think the screams were. And… oh dear. Looks like a child is puking on-

“Not Bonnie!” Jordan screams, looking horrified. You nearly gag, covering your mouth with your hand.

“Oh god,” you whisper, shaking your head. Yet you can’t keep the smile from stretching across your face. “Poor Bonnie…”

“Poor _Matt_ ,” Jordan remarks, and you both watch him scurry to the scene once the child is done with a mop.

“Poor Matt,” you agree somberly. Quite upsetting how Matt is forced to deal with all sorts of nasty situations- it can’t be fun being a janitor.

While watching, Jordan shimmies closer to you. They whisper, “I have a fun idea.” You raise an eyebrow, glancing over to them.

“Oh yeah?”

Jordan grins, eyes glinting mischievously. “Always wondered what the place was like at night for that guard. Let’s _stay_.”

You almost let out a surprised laugh. “Stay?” you hiss back. “We aren’t allowed to. It’s a rule. Leave before-”

“Leave before 12 or Freddy will ‘get mad’, I know, I know,” Jordan shrugs. “But c’mon, doesn’t it sound a little sketchy?” You hate to agree, because, well, you’ve _seen_ what happens after 12. Or, at least you’ve seen a small snippet of what happens. Freddy had walked right off the stage! Did all of the characters do that? Freddy’s unpredictable behavior had startled you, but maybe startled was an understatement. He’d _terrified_ you. Come to think of it, you probably should’ve found Mike some other time to, well, ask him about it.

Because there’s _no way_ they all act like this after 12, every single night. Right?

Jordan grabs your arm, shaking you lightly. “It’ll be fun! Who knows, maybe they’re hiding something from us?” You don’t doubt it.

“Alright, we can stay,” you finally agree, and Jordan’s gleeful smile blinds you. “But not tonight.” The smile falls immediately.

“What?” they whine, upset. “What’s the difference?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you…” you start uncertainly. “I stayed past 12 once, and I kid you not, if it weren’t for Mike I think I would be dead right now.” Jordan’s eyes widen.

“What happened?”

“You won’t believe this, but,” you lower your voice, “those things on stage? They’re _alive_. I think.”

“Oh, I believe that. One hundred percent.” Jordan scoots back, face neutral.

“Wait- really?” You’re caught off guard by that. They don’t think you’re crazy or something?

“I mean, they’re really creepy. So why wouldn’t they be haunted? It’s only fitting.”

You hum in acknowledgement. “Who’s on night shift tomorrow?” Jordan considers it for a moment.

“Hm… Jeremy, probably. Let’s pressure him into letting us stay!”

You feel a twinge of guilt as you agree, but the plan is set in stone. Probably.

_Maybe you’ll finally get to know what Freddy wants with you_ …

Heart beating, you allow yourself to smile a bit. It was going to be a thrilling experience, surely- Maybe like a haunted house? But more deadly? Either way you find you can’t wait for the next day to come.

_Tomorrow night_ , you tell yourself. _Tomorrow night I’ll find out this place’s secrets_.

Oh, if only you could’ve taken it all back.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got some ideas for another freddy x reader fic- a soulmate au (red string of fate). you finally see the string in the pizzeria, follow it up to the stage, and- the bear. it's the bear. would that be interesting? either way i think ill write and post it, so check for that!


	8. the night shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> small tw? foxy pulls a jason on reader ("minor" wounds, not very graphic i dont think)

“Okay- okay! You can both stay! But you are _not_ to leave the office,” Jeremy instructs you and Jordan. Both of your faces fall in disappointment.

“ _What_?” Jordan nearly wails. “But that- that’s the entire point of staying the night shift!”

“Because,” Jeremy huffs from behind the front counter, “I don’t want you two getting hurt. The animatronics get free roam at night so they don’t rust or something.”

“What, something’s gonna happen if they ‘catch us’?” Jordan grumbles, crossing their arms. You stiffen, remembering what did happen when they caught you. When _he_ caught you.

“They don’t detect humans, only endoskeletons,” Jeremy explains quietly. “They might try to forcibly stuff you into an electronic-filled suit… which results in death.” Jordan lets out a squeak of surprise.

“You’re kidding!” they cry out, arms falling to their sides. Jeremy almost somberly shakes his head.

“I wish. It’s dangerous work, especially when they wander near the office… I have doors I can close, though.” You remember seeing the doors mentioned; their dark metal surface seemed cold and unforgiving. You suppress a shudder at having to use them.

“Oh. So it’ll be like a fun mini-party?” Jordan says hopefully, perking up.

“Can’t close ‘em all the time. Company wants to save power, so they limit how much is able to be used at night. If the power runs out…” Jeremy looks away suddenly, expression growing tense. “I don’t wanna think about that.” Jordan grimaces, seeming to rethink the decision to stay after hours.

You place a hand on their shoulder. “It’ll be okay.” You offer a weary smile, mentally drained by this point. It’d been a long day of dealing with screaming children and such. “There are three of us- we should be able to fight off a few killer animatronics!” It’s a weak attempt at a joke but it makes Jordan smile.

“I suppose so,” they reply, tone light. “Yeah- we could take one down! Together!” Jeremy’s grinning now as well.

“Well,” he speaks smoothly, “I guess I’ll see you two tonight?” When both you and Jordan nod enthusiastically he waves and heads out the front door to get some rest before midnight.

It’s time to close up for the night shift.

You and Jordan hid out in the supply closet right as the place closed down. Nestled tightly against you was a bag filled with flashlights and… sharp objects. You hear a clock chime somewhere off in the distance signaling 12 AM. You and Jordan stand, swiftly making your way over to the office.

While passing the stage you nearly freeze. It’s not hard to tell that they’re watching you. That _he’s_ watching you. You gulp and grab Jordan’s hand, scuttling down one of the hallways to the office.

Jeremy is settled down comfortably in an old, broken down chair. The guard uniform he’s wearing is wrinkled and the camera tablet is resting on his lap.

“Well look at you two,” he greets you, smiling. “Got a little nervous for a second.”

“We wouldn’t go down _that_ easily,” Jordan remarks, sitting on the crappy desk. It creaks against their weight, papers and candy wrappers fluttering to the ground.

“So when-” you start to ask, but the loud ringing of a phone interrupts you. Jeremy lets it ring for a few moments before a recorded message begins to play.

“Instructions,” he mouths, as a crackly voice fills the room.

“Hello, hello! Hey, you’re doing great! Most people don’t last this long! I mean, ya know, the-they usually move on to other things by now… I’m not implying that they died. Tha-that-that’s not what I meant… Uhh, anyway, I better not take up too much of your time, uhh, things start getting real tonight.”

You blink, slightly confused. What did that mean? Would this be more dangerous than you thought?

“Uh, h-hey listen, I had an idea: If you happen to get caught and want to avoid getting stuffed into a Freddy suit, uhh, try playing dead. Ya know: go limp. Then there's a chance, uhh, maybe they’ll think you’re an empty costume instead. Then again, if they think you’re an empty costume, they might try ta… stuff a metal skeleton into you. I wonder how that would work… Yeeeah never mind; scratch that, it’s best just to not get caught. Umm, well, ok. I-I’ll leave you to it. See you on the flip side!”

The message beeps, cutting off. Jeremy had been checking through all the cameras while it was playing. He looked… stressed. And worried. Oh, man, this was a terrible idea! Just what had you gotten yourself into?

“Bonnie’s coming down the hallway pretty quickly,” Jeremy mutters. “It- it might be best if you guys went under the desk?”

Jordan slides off the desk, and sits against the wall, half under the desk. Reluctantly, you sit beside them. Jeremy mutters something under his breath. He pushes the wheeled chair over to the left doorway. He presses the large white button.

Lights flicker on, illuminating Bonnie’s purple face in the doorway. You and Jordan scream, scooting away from the doorway. Bonnie’s eyes flicker down to look at you, expression almost looking surprised. Jeremy curses and hits the red button, letting the metal door slam down on Bonnie’s face.

You’re breathing heavily, face pale. Jeremy looks vaguely calm, as he must’ve been used to this by now. He turns to you and Jordan, nodding at the desk. You both shuffle underneath it, hugging your knees.

“This tends to happen a lot throughout the night,” Jeremy says quietly, wheeling his chair back to the desk. He checks through the cameras a few more times. “Bonnie’s heading back… almost looks like he’s gonna tell the others somethin’,” he chuckles, reaching over to open the door again.

By now you’ve calmed down from the fright of Bonnie in the doorway. At least, under the desk, it gave you the illusion of safety. Jeremy frowns at the tablet.

“What?” Jordan questions, voice high-pitched.

“Foxy’s peeking out,” he answers, bringing the tablet down for you both to see. Indeed, Foxy’s head is just barely through the dark purple curtains of Pirate’s Cove.

“Foxy is still active?” you ask, surprised. You’ve seen the ‘out of order’ sign, and had just assumed he’d be off until he was fixed. Whenever that would be.

“At night he is. He tends to…” Jeremy hesitates before finishing, setting the tablet down, “run.”

“You’re kidding!” you cry out, not even sure how you keep getting surprised.

The night goes on with you and Jordan huddled underneath the desk. Jeremy so far has blocked out Chica one and Bonnie two more times. Each time they kept… looking at you.

Suddenly Jeremy gasps loudly. He fumbles with the tablet, frantically checking something. You sit up, craning your neck to look out both doorways. Your mouth falls open.

Footsteps pound against the ground.

_Something is coming_.

Jeremy throws himself to the left doorway, getting ready to slam his hand down on the red button-

An ear-splitting shriek cuts through the air and Jeremy is flung backwards. You let out a scream as a blur of red flies through the doorway. You hear the terrible creak and groan of metal grinding against each other, and then it’s the snapping of metal jaws. Jeremy scrambles out the right doorway and you’re too late to call out to him.

Yellow arms wrap around him, pulling him upwards. Jeremy struggles against the giant chicken holding him, but she’s far too strong.

“Run!” he croaks out, lungs being compressed as his torso is squeezed against Chica. Chica begins stepping away, carrying Jeremy off.

“No!” you scream, stumbling to your feet, and hitting your head against the desk with a dull _thump_. Foxy’s head snaps over to look at you and Jordan grabs your upper arm with a bruising grasp.

Foxy’s arm shoots out, hook burying itself in your leg. You bite your lip, tears springing up in your eyes. Jordan’s grip on you tightens. Foxy begins to drag you out from under the desk, and you lose your balance, falling against the dusty ground. Jordan grabs your torso, trying to tug you back underneath the desk.

Foxy’s jaw is unhinged, eyelids half closed. He knows what he’s doing, dragging you out to your death like this. Jordan grunts, losing the battle of tug-of-war.

Your lower body is completely out from under the desk. Jordan’s grip is loosening. Foxy’s hook continues to burrow deeper into your leg, causing you to gasp out in agony. The gash is slowly opening more every time the hook is dragged downward.

“Y/n!” Jordan screams, and you see the tears in their eyes. The fear is plain on their face. You want to force a smile to try and show how everything will be fine but you _can’t_. You know you’re going to die, there’s no sugar-coating it.

“Run-” you force out, tears slipping down your face with the pain. Foxy continues pulling you out, and it feels pathetic to fight against him. “Get out of here. You can make it.”

“I won’t just-” Jordan begins, but your head is ripped out from under the table. Foxy grabs your arm to drag you easier, and you let your head fall in defeat.

You’re dragged down the hallway, blood leaving a smearing trail on the tiled floor. It’s quick- soon you’re in the main room. Bonnie is sitting at one of the tables doing who knows what and Freddy is standing on the stage- waiting.

Watching you.

You shudder, already tasting your death.

Foxy drags you up to the stage and approaches Freddy. By this point you’re almost fading in and out of consciousness from the pain. You must be delirious because you begin to hear them speak to each other.

“This the one you wanted?” Foxy’s ragged voice asks.

“You didn’t hurt her, _did you_?” Freddy’s voice is low and gruff. He’s angry.

“I did what I had to. Either way you have ‘er.”

“I asked you not to harm her,” Freddy snaps back, fuming at this point. “Her leg is in _horrible_ shape! You disobeyed orders.”

It’s hard to tell, but you think you hear a whimper come from Foxy.

“I’m sorry, boss!” Foxy cries out. “Ye know how hard of a time I have controlling meself sometimes…”

“That isn’t an excuse,” Freddy rumbles. “I suppose either way, you still got her. Now go back to your cove.” Foxy’s metal feet hit the ground with loud _clangs_ as he walks off. Freddy sighs, and you sense him approaching you.

You’re lifted up into strong, sturdy arms, and carefully tucked against a furred chest. It sickens you how gently you’re held, almost like he cares. You know better. You’re going to die.

You fade out for a moment and pull yourself back in with the sound of a door falling shut. You’re set down on the cold metal table of the Parts and Services room.

You force your eyes open and the first thing you’re met with is Freddy staring down at you, almost looking… concerned? Your leg feels damp and sticky, and you look down to see your pants torn down one leg. Red is peeking out, but most of it has dried.

“I’m going to be blunt,” Freddy begins. His eyes are glowing in the darkness, the only thing to barely light up the room. “We need you.”

Your brain isn’t keeping up with your mouth. “What?”

“We need you,” Freddy repeats, voice almost shaking, “to help us.”

“You- you aren’t-” you stammer, shocked. “You aren’t going to kill me?”

Freddy shakes his head slowly. “No. I- I know that when we first met, um, I tried to… hurt you.”

“You tried to kill me,” you correct him, glaring. Freddy almost stiffens, looking guilty.

“I saw an endoskeleton. I saw a trespasser,” he defends himself, moving back. The way he speaks almost reminds you of a spoiled child who didn’t get their way. You’re already getting sick of this.

“Listen,” he continues, pinching the area between his eyes. Somehow. “Basically we all need your help.” You raise an eyebrow, fear draining out of you quickly.

“You know the missing children's incident?”

This causes you to blink slowly. What? No, you’d never heard of such a thing. Curiosity piqued, you shake your head.

“Five kids went missing here, years ago. Nobody knows what happened, but _we_ do,” Freddy says softly. Your eyes are wide. _Missing_? How do you just lose five kids?

“They were killed,” Freddy goes on, not letting you process any of this. You choke out a laugh.

“What? Here?” you can’t help but ask, completely and utterly shocked. Freddy nods.

“The bodies were stuffed into the suits. That’s why they were never found,” he explains. You cringe backwards, remembering the hints of odd smells you’d sometimes get. Freddy notices, and looks away for a moment, ears falling down.

“Their spirits attached themselves to the suits.”

“So, what, you’re… possessed? I’m talking to one of the kids right now?” The thought is… chilling, to say the least. The idea that you’re talking with a murdered child freaks you out and horrifies you at the same time.

But Freddy shakes his head. “We don’t get possessed by them anymore, except for… But I do know we weren’t always like… this. With minds of our own, I mean,” he clarifies. You nod carefully, watching him.

“So what do you need _me_ for?”

“We- we want you to find the man who hurt them. So they can avenge themselves.”

Oh. This is… You don’t know what to say. You don’t know what to _think_. Why you? Why not someone else?

“You don’t- you don’t have to,” Freddy says quickly, ripping you from your thoughts. “I just thought… you fought against us extremely well, y’know. Better than anyone else I’ve ever seen. You don’t seem like the cowardly type.” Oh. He’s rambling. It’s almost cute.

“I…” You don’t know what this might get you. You don’t know where this might take you. But how could you just… not help? Especially after learning this?

“I’ll help. Or- try to,” you decide finally. Freddy’s shoulders sag and he looks relieved.

“Thank you,” he breathes. “You don’t know how much this means to us- _all_ of us.”

  
  


“Take this… _wild card_! Color changes to green.”

“No! You can’t just do that! I only have _yellow_ cards!”

“Shut up, both of you. And… uno.”

“You’re kidding!”

Quite a sight it is to see Bonnie, Chica, Jeremy and Jordan all playing Uno together. Even more of a sight to see the animatronics losing.

“ _Reverse_ ,” Bonnie grins, placing a card down. Jeremy throws the entire deck at him.

_What in the actual world_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bigger chapter !!! woohoo!! it's finally begun! im writing this for everyone reading because i want to give you all content you'll enjoy. also because it really is a lot of fun. any feedback whatsoever is greatly appreciated! comments make me cry emoji hearts <3


	9. his back panel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader what have you done to freddy lmao

“Sorry about yer leg,” Foxy apologizes, looking sheepish. You wave it off, feeling the fresh bandages. It didn’t even hurt that much anymore.

After Bonnie and Chica had miserably lost at Uno, you all discussed the current situation. Jordan and Jeremy agreed to help out the children’s spirits almost quicker than you had, the horror plain on their face. All the while Freddy had fixed up your leg.

Foxy had looked guilty as hell, and still did, even though you were fine now. You frown.

“It’s fine,” you say. “You didn’t exactly… mean it.”

“And it won’t happen again,” Freddy cuts in, glaring at the red fox. Foxy shrinks underneath his gaze.

“O’ course, boss,” he mumbles, not meeting his stare. Freddy makes a huffing noise and then turns to you, expression unreadable.

“You’re alright?” he asks. You nod.

“I’m fine.”

“Man, what a crazy night,” Jordan drawls, hands raised behind their head. Jerremy agrees, yawning.

“I’m exhausted, but relieved. I mean, everything basically worked out!” he exclaims, lazily grinning.

“And we got more friends!” Chica adds gleefully.

“Ah, but it is almost six,” Freddy reminds you all. Jeremy’s eyes snap wide open.

“Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me. Shift’s almost over so we should leave,” he tells you and Jordan. Jordan groans.

“But everything just calmed down!” they argue. You lightly punch their arm.

“Stop whining, we also have tomorrow night. Right, Jer?”

“Yup,” Jeremy confirms, eyeing the main entrance. “But right now we have to leave. We can discuss the… issue tomorrow?”

“That’d be great!” Chica cheers, clapping her hands together.

“And much appreciated,” Bonnie speaks up.

“Thank you for helping us,” Freddy says, eyes shining with gratitude. You smile softly at him.

“We’ll try our hardest to help you all get justice,” you promise, and you mean every word.

You’re all exhausted in the morning, but feel a lot more comfortable around the animatronics. The danger has passed and while that is insanely relieving, there’s still the new issue of finding the one who hurt them. Other than being worried about that, it’s also stressing you out.

Throughout the day, you’re distracted. Carolynn takes notice and asks again and again if you need to step away from work for a moment. Each time you wave her off with a chuckle, insisting that you’re fine. She seems doubtful with your responses, brows furrowed while frowning, but accepts your answers.

The day drags on and on. Kids scream and get into all sorts of trouble, pizza falls onto the floor, bugs fly into faces, and tickets are fed into the ticket machines. It’s a sensory overload every time you turn a corner.

You can tell when the animatronics are watching you, but it isn’t unsettling anymore. It’s more like they’re looking after you, and if anything, makes you feel a little more safe.

Finally you’re cleaning up for the night with Carolynn, talking quietly as you wipe off tables and sweep the party rooms. After a few moments Carolynn suddenly quiets down. You look up at her.

“Somethin’ wrong?” you ask, and she turns to face you, eyes wide with fear. Her gaze snaps to another part of the room and back to you, as if checking something.

She gulps. “He’s… I think he’s watching you.”

‘ _ He _ ’?

You glance over up at the stage, where you assumed she’d been looking. And, well… Freddy caught your gaze. His eyebrows raised, ears tilting up, as if embarrassed he’d been caught… staring? His eyes glowed dimly for a moment, before his head swivelled over to Bonnie, then over to Chica. His mouth fell open and closed, letting out recorded speech.

“I-It seems we still ha-ave guests!” The voice is undoubtedly Freddy, but more crackly and glitched, replaying the same scripted sentences for certain parties and events.

Why is he-

Bonnie’s ears lift up, mouth falling open. It almost looks like he rolls his eyes for a split second in annoyance. “Do you think the-ey’ll want to h-hear a song-ong-ong?” he asks, voice catching on the last word. Oddly enough, he looked happy. Or, as happy as an animatronic could be with such stiff facial movements.

“How’d they turn on?” Carolynn whispers, looking fearful. You manage to keep a puzzled expression on your face despite not being too concerned.

“They seem to know there are still people in the building. Must be motion or sound activated?” you try to reason. Carolynn shakes her head.

“But they’ve never done this before…”

Chica’s torso is twisting, beak opening and closing with sharp  _ clicks _ . “Who wouldn’t-n’t want to he-ear a song?”

“Y/n,” Carolynn whines in a hushed tone, “this is creepy!”

“Maybe we can turn them off?” You walk towards the stage.

“Lo-ok, Freddy!” Chica chirps, eyes pinned on you approaching. “Seems like we-e have a new band member-er!”

“Why don’t you-ou try my guita-ar?” Bonnie asks, expression almost smug.

You hop onto the stage clumsily, and get to your feet. You walk behind Freddy, prying open the panel in his back. Freddy’s head lifts up, ears perked.

“Tha-at’s not for you to-o see!” he nearly hisses.

“I got this, Carolynn,” you call out to the trembling girl. “You go home, I’ll fix this. Or call Matt up.”

“But-”

“How many times have you covered for me? Let me return the favor.” You poke your head out from behind the strangely still Freddy, smiling. “I got this.”

Normally Carolynn would’ve never accepted that. But, maybe it was the exhaustion dragging at her that told her,  _ hey, maybe you should accept this offer _ . She wearily nods and trots off towards the exit.

You return to the open panel, staring at the mess of wires and circuit-boards. Bonnie and Chica have stopped with their automatic movements, now looking at you with sly expressions, as if they know something you don’t. Carolynn’s still collecting her stuff so you need to keep up the act of trying to turn them off.

You really don’t want to accidentally damage anything, so carefully,  _ hesitantly _ , you reach for a switch nestled between a clump of wires. It almost looks like it’s… vibrating?

You hear the front door open and close, the bell jingling.

Your hand brushes against the switch. A large brown “paw” grabs your arm. You nearly yelp out in surprise. Freddy’s grip on you is bruising, and you try to wiggle out of it. Somewhere in his torso it sounds like there’s a fan whirring rhythmically, oddly similar to labored breathing.

Where your skin connects to fake fur begins to burn up. Is… is he heating up or something?

“Don’t,” Freddy breathes out. His ears are pressed against his head. He refuses to look at you. “Not- not there.” He sounds… different. Not like the broken, recorded speech. Not like his usual smooth, human speech. Almost higher in pitch, and shaky. Like…-

Your fingers twitch, accidentally brushing against some wires. A high squealing sound comes from Freddy’s torso.

“Oh- I’m sorry,” you stammer, yanking your hand back. He lets you. You hurry to shut the panel. “I just needed to make it look like-”

“I-I know,” Freddy cuts you off, finally turning his head to look at you. His eyes are glowing brightly. Your breath catches in your throat. Something about him is… off. Not in a bad way, or a creepy way, though. You swallow, nervous suddenly.

“Well  _ that  _ sure was somethin’!” Bonnie almost snickers. Chica joins in.

“Can’t believe you just  _ opened his back panel  _ like that,” she teases, plastic eyes glinting in that certain way that gave her life. Your face flushes red.

“I didn’t know-”

“Relax, relax, we’re joking!” Bonnie chuckles, amused. “Sorry to get ya all worried for a second.”

“Oh… Um, may I ask  _ why  _ you all decided to activate?”

Bonnie grins. “Freddy panicked when you caught him  _ staring _ . We just played along.”

Oh. Huh.

Freddy still hasn’t spoken another word yet. He’s refusing to meet your eyes again. Chica makes a sound resembling someone clicking their tongue.

“Haven’t seen him this quiet in years,” she comments. “Fred? You good?”

“Well, I mean, she  _ did  _ touch his-” Bonnie slams his mouth shut before finishing, shaking his head. “Nevermind, nevermind…” You have a horrible feeling in your stomach, something that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , knows exactly what you did.

“Right, so, it’s gonna be a little while until Jeremy shows up,” you mutter, eyeing the clock. “Um, Jordan has to babysit tonight so they won’t be here.”

“Aw, I loved Jordan!” Chica cries, upset at the news. “What a shame.”

“There’ll be other times to hang out, Chi,” Bonnie reminds her. At that, she perks up again.

“So, what, we can just… hang out ‘till Jeremy gets here?” you pipe up. Everyone shrugs. “Okay, guess we’ll-”

“SWEET MOTHER OF SOUL-SUCKIN’ SEA SHANTIES!!!”

You all hear Foxy’s scream from Pirate’s Cove. Bonnie blinks.

“Is it just me or did that make  _ no  _ sense?”

“Let’s just see what the issue is,” Freddy grumbles, hopping off the stage. You, Bonnie and Chica follow wordlessly.

It might be a _ while  _ before Jeremy shows up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really, really don't know where i'm going with this. it's all vague plot points and stuff. i've been writing down a ton of scenarios i might add in later on but if not, i might post them. also! i started a freddy x reader soulmate fic, which should be hilarious. i plan to post it sometime, but don't really want to turn it into one big story. maybe a long one-shot. what would you think about that?


	10. until tomorrow

Foxy had somehow gotten tangled in the cove’s purple curtain. His hook had sliced through the thick material several times in a panic, creating large gaping holes that matched the animatronic’s own torso. It was quite sad.

“This is why we have extra curtains,” you hear Bonnie mutter under his breath as you all work to untangle him. Once he was free, Foxy sighs, sitting on the edge of his stage.

“What spooked you this time?” Freddy asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Now, this ol’ captain isn’t afraid o’ much, but I  _ swear  _ those shadows were lookin’ at me!” Foxy cries thrusting his hooked hand towards a dark corner. You think you hear Bonnie snort.

“Foxy, shadows can’t look at anyone…” Chica reassures him gently, talking to him as if he were a child.

“I know ye all be lookin’ at me as if I were crazy, but  _ please  _ believe me!” Foxy begs, looking desperate. “Two eyes, white as snow, blinkin’ up at me!”

Your eyes snap over to the corner. You feel a harsh chill crawl up your spine. Something about what Foxy’s describing… You think back to those odd dreams you’ve been having lately. Is it…?

You hear a dull  _ thunk  _ as Foxy lets himself flop back onto the stage. He seems worn out. Looking at your wrist watch, you note that it’s still going to be a while until Jeremy arrives.

“I should probably get that extra curtain,” Bonnie huffs, moving to leave. Chica raises an arm.

“I’ll come too!” Her eyes are shining playfully. Bonnie offers her a grin and they walk off together, leaving you, Freddy, and Foxy alone. It’s… a little uncomfortable, to say the least.

“Maybe we should leave Foxy alone,” Freddy rumbles, not facing you.

“Right…”

You both leave and sit on the edge of the main stage. It’s even more uncomfortable here. The silence wraps around you, suffocating you.

You clear your throat awkwardly. “I’m… sorry about earlier,” you apologize quietly. Freddy turns to you, looking a little surprised.

“You didn’t know, it’s alright,” he replies quietly. He turns to look at you in a way that’s almost soft. You allow yourself to smile. The minutes following are a lot more comfortable, filled with easy small-talk and such. Finally the back door opens and Jeremy comes in for his shift.

You call everyone to the main room to discuss everything. You all sit down at one of the tables, which the animatronics have some trouble settling down in. Finally, it’s time to talk.

“He lured the kids back by wearing his signature yellow Bonnie suit,” Freddy begins. “It was an older model, used for some previous location. We… don’t know much about it. Only that it was called ‘Spring Bonnie’.”

Jeremy chimes in, “I can search through records of all the past animatronics or suits used. And I’m sure there are newspapers saved- company’s a hoarder, and if five kids were murdered it would’ve made it in the news.”

“And anyone with access to those spare suits would’ve been someone who worked here at the time,” you add. “Do you think there are employment lists from over the years?” Jeremy nods, looking thoughtful.

“What year was it when it happened?” he asks the animatronics.

“1985,” Bonnie responds, kicking his legs up onto the table. It shudders beneath his weight.

“Right, okay, I’ll check stuff around there.”

“Is that all the info you guys have?” You glance around the table. They all consider the question for a moment, before shaking their heads.

“That be it,” Foxy huffs. “Their memories are scattered, ye know.” It’s really depressing when he says that. You begin to worry if you can avenge those poor children’s spirits.

Chica notices how your expression sours and reaches a hand over to grasp your shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” she says hopefully. “We’ll get through this together and finally get justice!”

“Right,” you mutter. “Right, yeah.”

Jeremy lets out a low whistle. “Guess I should head to the office…”

“And I challenge you to a rematch at Uno!” Bonnie points a finger at Jeremy, scowling in a light-hearted way. Jeremy chuckles.

“Sure thing, bun-bun.”

“ _ Don’t call me that _ !”

You laugh as the two argue jokingly, and see Chica giggle as well. Freddy stays silent but watches them with the amusement clear in his gaze. While Jeremy and “Bun-Bun” argue, Freddy tilts his head at you.

“Go home, Y/n,” he says. “Get some rest.”

“Oh! Um, sure. I’ll see you guys tomorrow?” You stand up, looking around at everyone.

“Tomorrow!” Chica chirps.

“Tomorrow,” Bonnie agrees.

“Tomorrow!” Foxy cries.

“Tomorrow,” Jeremy grins.

“…Tomorrow,” Freddy murmurs, not quite meeting your eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for a short chapter. also i swear if i got that date wrong im gonna- anyways! i posted the first chapter to that soulmate fic i kept rambling about. its gonna be a more light-hearted stupid thing so if you're interested, it'd mean the world to me if you checked it out! as always, i hope you guys enjoy... until tomorrow ;)


	11. tomorrow's just a concept

Tomorrow never really arrives. It’s always looming around the corner. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” someone might say. And tomorrow never comes. The day just moves on until it’s “today” and you’re meeting up with that one friend. But tomorrow still watches from afar. Tomorrow is still there. Because, well, if tomorrow really came, what would come afterwards?

For you, today is here, but tomorrow still waits. Tomorrow will come soon enough.

Regardless, you feel energized at work. Walking in you give Jeremy a quick smile at the front desk. He returns the gesture with a sigh.

“What’s up?” you ask, stopping for a moment.

“I let down my guard and got  _ destroyed  _ at Monopoly last night,” he grumbles, upset. You let out a chuckle.

“Oh, so you’ve moved on from Uno?”

Jeremy looks like he’s deflating across the desk. You pat his head, and move on, waving goodbye. The moment you walk in, Carolynn  _ flies  _ up to you.

“Y/n! I’m so sorry for leaving you alone last night, I should’ve-”

“Woah, woah!” you cut her off, raising your arms as she dives in for a rib-breaking hug. “It’s okay, Care’, really.”

“Nothing crazy happened, did it?”

You shake your head. “No, no, something glitched and turned the animatronics on,” you lie. “Then the others heard and started to run off their own programs, so…”

“You didn’t have to call Matt, did you?” Carolynn looks up at you with wide eyes, very apologetic.

“Oh, no. I had it handled.”

Carolynn sighs, sagging against you. “I’m glad. Thanks for letting me go home early.”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to thank me!” you insist, backing up a little. Carolynn lets go and steps back, smiling.

“Well, then, let’s get to work, shall we?”

It’s a relatively easy day. The pizzeria is less crowded than usual and that brings you relief. You spot Jeremy sifting through the supply closet once and see him emerge with a stack of papers. You wonder if he’s found anything important.

It’s almost the end of the day when Matt comes up to you. “Boss needs to speak to you,” he says in a rushed voice, swiftly walking past you.

“Oh… thanks,” you mumble, heading over to the boss’s office. It’s a dark, creaky door down one of the many long hallways. You hesitate to knock and hear a muffled “Come in” from the inside of the room.

You push open the door with some difficulty and are greeted with a small, but comfy office room. There’s a sleek dark wooden desk in the center and on either side are two plush chairs. You think you know where most of the building’s funds went… Next to the desk is a single bookshelf filled with documents and files, and, well, books. Books about electronics and robotics and coding.

Sitting in the chair behind the desk is your boss. You don’t see him very often, and you don’t hear much from him. You only know his first name, upon hearing it tossed around the restaurant sometimes. “William”, no last name given. He’s an almost sophisticated man, usually wearing a form-fitting deep purple suit. His hair, dark brown, is smoothed back with little gel, making him look very professional. With that cold expression, he probably is.

He gives you a sly grin upon entering, and motions for you to sit in the other chair across from him. You do, sinking into the cushion.

“Y/n,” he begins, eyeing you. You feel uncomfortable. Something about those eyes… “I assume you don’t know why I’ve brought you here today?” You shake your head and William’s grin widens.

“I do believe you’re tampering with the animatronics.”

You stiffen. “What?” you force out, completely and utterly confused. “Why would I- I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“They’ve been… acting strangely. And dear Carolynn told me you messed with them last night while closing up.”

“No, no, they- they activated. I was trying to turn them off…” You begin to sweat, worried you’re about to get fired. William lets out a deep chuckle that sends off your fight or flight response.

“They can’t just  _ activate _ . And I’ve noticed you’ve been spending plenty of time with them in work,” William nearly spits out. You gulp. “If you love them so much, why don’t you just transfer onto the night shift? Then you’ll be able to spend  _ allll night  _ with them…  _ alone _ .”

He probably thought you would’ve been scared at that. Maybe you would’ve, if this happened a week ago. But, honestly, spending all night with your new friends didn’t seem so bad.

“I’d prefer to stay on the day shift,” you squeak out instead. Right, you’d miss all of your  _ other  _ friends if you were on the night shift. “If- if that isn’t an issue, Mr…”

William scowls, as if you should know his last name. “Afton.”

“Mr. Afton, if it isn’t an issue, I’d prefer to stay on the day shift.” You smile at him nervously. William sighs, leaning back in his chair.

“I suppose it wouldn’t be an issue… But if I see you messing with those animatronics, you’ll be fired right away. Do you understand?” You nod, and William sits back up, satisfied.

“Right then. Get out of my office.”

You don’t hesitate to scurry out of the door.

During closing time your thoughts are muddled with questions. Why would your boss accuse you of “tampering with the animatronics”? Carolynn just must’ve been reporting on the incident… She’s not the type to rat you out. But, was what you did wrong? Should you have called Matt?

Distantly you hear Carolynn tell you she’s going home for the night. You nod, not really paying attention, and the front door jingles open, then closed. You sigh, leaning against your broom.

You don’t know how long you spend idly sweeping up dust that isn’t there anymore. Long enough for it to turn 12, without you even intending to stay that long. You don’t notice the soft, padded footsteps coming from behind you until there’s a large furred hand on your shoulder. You scream, completely caught off guard, and swivel around, jabbing the end of the broom into your attacker.

It bounces off Freddy’s chest without so much as a scratch. You suck in a large breath and stumble backwards, body not catching up with your head. Freddy looks seriously concerned, eyebrows tilted upwards.

“Oh, I’m- I’m sorry,” you stammer, letting the broom drop down to your side.

“No, it’s okay, I should’ve said something,” Freddy replied quickly, shaking his head. “Sorry, you just looked… lost, kinda. Is- Is there something on your mind?”

You almost want to laugh. If you went back in time to tell yourself that in the future you’d have conversations with a living, animatronic bear, you’d probably slap yourself. Or think you went crazy.

“Um, kinda. The boss called me in today,” you start, averting your eyes. “Accused me of… tampering with you guys.”

“Oh,” Freddy says, still looking at you with his full attention. “Because of last night?”

“Yeah, I think so.” You shrug, reaching up to rub the back of your neck.

“At least he didn’t fire you!” It’s a small attempt to make you feel better, but it does, nonetheless. If it were any of the others telling you that, you don’t think it would’ve had the same effect it did when Freddy said it.

_ Why is that? _

“Are you gonna stay after hours… more than you already have?” he asks.

“Maybe. Dunno, though.”

“You don’t have to! The others won’t be up for a little while anyway.” Freddy shoots a glance over his shoulder at the stage where Bonnie and Chica stood.

“Why’s that?”

“Something about a dare, I think.” You let out a snort. Of course they’d challenge each other to something stupid. It’s only fitting.

“I’ll… I’ll stay. But not too long,” you decide. Freddy lights up with a grin that makes you just feel  _ good _ .

“I, ah, actually had some questions for you?” he starts, walking to one of the party tables. You follow.

“Ask away.”

“Just… stuff about outside of the restaurant?”

You listen as Freddy questions you about various things. It’s quite adorable, really, how he pays attention to you with wide eyes when you tell him about different kinds of weather. You’re enjoying yourself a lot, telling stories of all the times you’d go on vacations at the beach or when you’d travel.

You’re just telling the story of a fun fishing trip when you hear a low whistle.

“Well, look at you two!” a voice calls out, and you instantly recognize it as Bonnie. When’d he get up? He mouths something that you think is… ‘lovebirds’? You see Freddy’s eyes glow harshly  as he shoots something that resembles a glare at Bonnie. You turn around to wave at the purple Rabbit who slides into the seat across from you with a smug grin. “How’ve things been goin’?” he asks, speaking in a way that tells you he knows something you don’t.

“Oh, y’know, just-” you break off with a yawn.

“Oh! Looks like the lil’ lady is tired. Maybe it’s time to head home, Jeremy should be here any moment,” Bonnie says. The way he’s talking is a little odd, but you don’t pay much mind to it. Instead you murmur your agreement and stand up.

Your eyes linger on Freddy as you’re walking out the front door. You push yourself out the exit and then lean against the side of the building, suddenly feeling out of breath. You briefly think about that odd feeling you’re getting right now that isn’t exactly unpleasant.

You walk through the empty parking lot to your car, thinking about tomorrow.

Tomorrow never really arrives. Because, well, if tomorrow really came, what would come afterwards?

Tomorrow will come soon enough.

Far sooner than expected.

Far sooner than you’ll want.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi next chapter! nice. i only proofread these like once so if there are any mistakes please don't hesitate to comment. as always, i hope you enjoy!


	12. charlotte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the animatronics are stupid for not connecting the dots earlier, honestly, who wrote them like tha- oh... oh wait...

A large stack of papers is dropped onto the table with a _thump_. Jeremy faces you and the animatronics with a proud smile.

“This is everything from 1985 and the surrounding years that I could find,” he explains.

“Oh, snap!” Jordan whispers, eyeing the pile. “That’s a lot.”

“But there are seven of us to look through it,” you remind them. “So let’s get to it, huh?”

It’d been about two hours of sifting through all the documents and records. It was painfully slow and you were getting pretty drowsy but you pushed through it.

“Hm,” you hear Jeremy mumble, squinting down at an old newspaper. “Hey, guys, check this out…” He turns the paper around and you all study it.

“ ‘Suspect convicted’…?” you mutter. “That can’t be right.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Chica squawks.

“So… he was already arrested?” Bonnie says.

Freddy shakes his head. “No… that’s…”

You don’t really know what to think. Does this mean that vengeance has been served? But wouldn’t that let the children’s spirits move on?

“No, this isn’t right!” Foxy cries out. “The spirits still linger.”

“Exactly,” Freddy agrees, nodding. “The spirits have not moved on, so something isn’t right here. It… says ‘suspect’. Do you think the wrong man could’ve been arrested?”

You snap. “That just might be it. So the real bad guy is still out there somewhere.”

“Does it say _who_ was convicted?” Jordan asks, grabbing the article. Jeremy shakes his head.

“Just says ‘suspect’,” he answers. “No name or anything.”

“Hm, what about the employee list?”

You all look through the names listed, searching for anything you might recognize. Which… you do.

_William Afton_.

Your boss’s name. It doesn’t exactly strike you as odd. What _does_ seem odd to you is that he was already the co-owner by the time he was first employed. Which was… when the place first opened. You never knew that. The other owner, which you found, went by the name of “Henry Emily.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about Henry,” Jordan says. “Lost one of his kids, then his wife. He went crazy and killed himself, I think.”

“Jordan!” Jeremy snaps. “It’s disrespectful to talk about him like that.” Jordan rolls their eyes.

“Sorry?”

“That’s… kind of odd. How’d he lose the kid?” you ask. Jordan looks thoughtful for a moment before answering.

“Think it was a murder. One of these restaurants, actually. Might’ve been the place before Freddy’s.”

“And how do _you_ know that?” Jeremy eyes Jordan almost suspiciously. Jordan shrugs.

“Heard our coworkers talkin’ about it.”

“Wait! We said the mascot costume used to lure the kids back was from an older location, didn’t we? Could it have been the same place Jordan’s talking about?” you question. Murmurs erupt from around you as each individual considers what you just said.

“ ‘Fredbear’s Family Diner’ was one of the previous locations,” Freddy suddenly breaks the silence. “The two animatronics used were Fredbear himself, an older model of me, and Spring Bonnie… the very same costume used for the murders. If that’s the same place Henry’s child was murdered… it could’ve been the one who hurt our spirits.”

“So the killer has been doing this for a while!” Bonnie gasps out.

“O’ course he has!” Foxy retorts. “How else could he have hurt-”

“Charlotte…” Chica whispers, eyes wide.

“And Charlotte was-” Freddy begins.

“Henry’s daughter,” Foxy finishes.

“Wait wait wait,” you mutter, shaking your head. “Who’s Charlotte?”

Freddy sighs. “Charlotte is the one who helped the spirits live on. She’s the one who’s been trying to help them seek revenge. She was… the first one the bad man hurt. If there’s anyone with information, it’ll be her.”

“Why didn’t we think of all this before…” Foxy wonders aloud.

“Right then!” Chica beams, standing up with both hands on the table. “Let’s go find Charlotte.”

You didn’t need to find Charlotte, because, well, Charlotte found _you_. Once you were all getting up, you heard an odd mix between a pained wail and delighted giggle in your ear. It echoed, and you had jumped up, spooked.

Now you were all sitting on the floor, staring at Charlotte. You don’t know _what_ you expected her to look like, but definitely not… this.

Charlotte was a strange being. Some kind of… puppet? Or marionette? Some sort of thing with a dark, slender body, arms and legs striped with white. She had a mask on her face, a creepy blank smile carved into the smooth, white surface. Purple tear stains ran down from the eye holes and on each cheek there was a lifted, rosy blush. You didn’t see anything in the eye holes or mouth hole, just inky darkness. It was… unsettling.

Nobody had said a thing, just wordlessly sat around her. She curls her stick legs into a sitting position, and sank to the floor for all of you to see. Finally, she spoke.

“You want to know about the _bad man_?”

Her voice sounds like a whisper. A horrible, echoing whisper of a little girl’s voice filled with decades of agonizing pain and misery. Your heart twists upon just hearing it.

“What do you remember about… that night?” Freddy asks softly. Charlotte turns her head to the ground.

“It’s hard to remember,” she admits somberly. “I was… outside. It was raining, I think.”

It’s hard to listen to her when she sounds so anguished at recalling her own death. You can’t ever imagine trying to recollect the memories of how you had died.

“A car rolled up next to me. It was purple.” Charlotte’s masked “face” seems to twist up. “A man stepped out. He looked so scary… I don’t remember why I was outside, but I wanted to get back in. I _needed_ to get back in.”

“Outside of Fredbear’s?” Jeremy pipes up. Charlotte nods.

“It was quick,” she goes on. “It didn’t hurt much. I was barely holding onto life itself when… The Puppet crawled next to me.” She gestures to herself. So ‘The Puppet’ must be what she’s supposed to be…

“It allowed me to live on, using its body as a vessel of sorts. And here we are.”

“Who was it, though?” Jordan questions. Charlotte stares at them blankly. Jordan clears their throat, not pressing for an answer.

“Thank you for telling us… again,” Bonnie thanks her. Charlotte nods at him.

“I don’t mind. Anything to help you.” She stands up, “feet” barely brushing against the ground. Just before she had walked away completely, she turned around, whispering,

“Time ticks on as Cassidy grows restless for revenge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't have you all getting used to quick updates lmao. anyways, like always, please don't hesitate to comment if i've made any mistakes with grammar or perspective anything. hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	13. 1700s sea shanties can bring two “people” together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and for a split second, the world goes hazy
> 
> for just a moment, things are okay
> 
> the calm before the storm

You all collectively blink. “Who’s-” you begin to say, but Chica cuts you off quickly.

“Cassidy isn’t important,” she says hurriedly, smiling.

“But-”

“Forget about it,” Bonnie adds. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

You’re suspicious, but decide to leave the topic alone. For now. It’s getting a little late now and you’re feeling kinda tired. You all decide to take the rest of the night to just relax and hang out, despite the exhaustion dragging you down. Chica trots off towards the kitchen, saying something about pizza, Bonnie sits on the stage to practice his guitar, and Jordan and Jeremy run off with Foxy to… be stupid. That leaves you with Freddy.

You think about how many times you’ve been left alone with him by now. Like, two times? Seems oddly coincidental… like some badly written fanfiction or something. But now isn’t the time to get self aware.

You head off to one of the party rooms for some peace and quiet, though even there you can still hear the 1700s Sea Shanties muffled by the thin walls.

You settle down at one of the tables pressed up against the wall, and awkwardly drum your fingers against the plastic tablecloth covering it. Freddy sits down across from you, not exactly meeting your semi-bored gaze.

“So,” you begin, clearing your throat. “How was…” You trail off, looking at the bear before you. He looks so timid, just watching you carefully. When you stop speaking he lifts his head, ears perking up.

“Uh, I kept thinking about everything you were telling me, the previous night…” Freddy says quietly.

“Like, everything outside of the pizzeria?” you guess. When he nods, you smile. “You wanna know more things?”

Freddy rests his arms on the table, letting his head drop over them. “I’ve always wanted to leave… hearing you talk about places outside of the pizzeria is comforting.”

Oh. You’re surprised at that. It’s pretty cute, actually. You go on to tell him about the ocean, slowly growing more comfortable with him as the night goes on. You manage to forget your drowsiness for the most part, letting your voice fill the silence.

When you’re nearing the end of your story about getting pinched by a crab in the ocean, you begin to feel a cold chill. You shiver, subconsciously wrapping your arms around yourself. Freddy takes notice and lifts his head.

“Cold?”

You nod and he stands up, eyeing the door. “I think we have some spare blankets or something in the back… I can go get them?” he offers.

“Oh, yeah, that’d be nice,” you nod, watching him leave. He’s not gone for very long, only a few minutes, and when he returns he’s carrying a big bundle of a few blankets. They look a little old but comfy nonetheless.

Freddy begins to walk towards the table again but the wall starts to shake from… the Sea Shanties blasting off in Pirate’s Cove. He pauses, letting out a low chuckle of amusement before nodding over at the corner of the room where the walls  _ aren’t _ trembling beneath the power of the Sea Shanties.

You stand and Freddy drops the blankets in the corner. You both spend a moment arranging them to your liking before plopping down and snuggling into the warmth.

Oh, wow, it is cozy as  _ hell _ . You’re pressed up against the wall cushioned by the blankets, and it makes you even sleepier. You turn and see Freddy staring at you, giving you his full attention, and realize he must be waiting for you to continue your story.

You clear your throat and speak in a soft voice. Distantly, you notice a few things. One, Freddy’s eyes are blue. You’ve seen them before but now, with him watching you carefully, you notice what a beautiful shade they are. Whoever built him must’ve been insanely talented. You’re almost captivated by them, nearly forgetting to speak.

Two, he seems to be emitting a low rumbling noise. It kind of reminds you of a purring cat. You hold in a giggle at the thought of a  _ purring  _ bear. The entire situation is just… soft. It fills you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. Absentmindedly you find yourself moving closer to the quiet animatronic.

The last thing you notice is how soft his fur looks. You find yourself wanting to run your fingers through it. You blink, growing a bit warm at that urge.

After a few more stories, fatigue finally gets its hold on you. You’re fighting sleep, trying to keep your head from flopping over, and failing miserably. Freddy frowns, seeing your tired state.

“You don’t need to continue if you’re tired, Y/n,” he murmurs. And just like that you give in, letting yourself slump against Freddy. He lets out a surprised breath, watching as you snuggle further into the blankets surrounding you both. His eyes glow softly.

Without meaning to, Freddy’s music box begins to play. The cheerful tune, muffled by the blankets, fills the silence. The door to the party room creaks open, and Freddy looks over to see Bonnie sticking his head into the room. He has a shit-eating grin on his face upon seeing you curled up next to Freddy. Freddy shoots him a halfhearted glare which in turn gives him a snicker from Bonnie.

Bonnie reaches into the room and flicks the lights off. It takes only a moment for Freddy’s eyes to adjust to the darkness. The door closes again, leaving a sleeping you and Freddy alone.

Freddy turns down to study your sleeping figure. The light from his eyes casts a steady glow onto you, making you almost look ethereal. If he could breathe, he’d have lost the ability to, right then and there.

Carefully, he reaches a large furred hand towards your face. He cups your cheek, eyes widening when you lean into his touch. Something rises up from inside of him. An odd, fluttery feeling. It was almost familiar, something he might’ve felt around his friends, but it was also entirely different. It was making his wiring and circuit boards heat up, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Freddy withdraws his hand, and positions himself so your head is tucked underneath his chin, almost like he’s holding you. He practically is, at this point. You’re… warm. Warm against his chest, and with each breath you take, it feels like jolts of electricity going through his wiring. With a soft sigh, Freddy lets his eyes close, powering off to simulate sleep. The glowing of his eyes dies down, leaving you both in a gentle darkness.

The door is pushed open stealthily. A fox, a rabbit, and a chicken all poke their heads into the dark space. Light leaks into the room from where they stood, allowing them to easily see the two figures resting in the corner. They all share a giggle, taking a mental picture, before backing out of the room.

  
You get one of the best night’s sleep you’ve had in a  _ long  _ time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my favorite chapter i've written so far! i hope you all like it too, it gives me good vibes. thank you all so much for the support you've given me, it's really what motivates me to pump out chapters for you!


	14. realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It can't be that easy, can it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter because lazy

At first you don’t want to wake up. Your bed is  _ so  _ comfy, it’d be a crime to get up. You keep your eyes closed, letting out a soft sigh and snuggling closer to the large pillow beside you. You are  _ so  _ going to sleep in today…

Wait.

You never went home yesterday.

Your eyes fly open, and you feel heat crawl up the back of your neck. You tilt your head back and see Freddy staring at something on the other side of the room. You aren’t in a bed. You aren’t cuddling a pillow.

Your heart picks up speed a bit, and you’re trying to control your breathing. You’re just about ready to sit up and apologize, but…

He let you sleep for this long, didn’t he? Maybe he didn’t mind. You consider it for a moment before settling back against him.

“Y/n? You awake?” His voice is low, just barely above your head. There’s a hand placed on your shoulder. You slowly open your eyes again, seeing Freddy staring down at you.

“Mm, yeah, I’m awake,” you respond quietly. You find yourself yawning and sitting up, blinking the sleep away from your eyes. “What time is it?”

“Around 5:20, I think,” Freddy answers, not exactly meeting your stare.

“Uh… sorry for falling asleep on you-”

“Oh, no, no, it’s okay. No need to apologize.” He offers you a small smile, making you feel at ease.

“Right… yeah. Um, I should probably get home,” you decide, beginning to stand up. Freddy watches you, expression unreadable.

“Of course,” he murmurs. “Get some more rest before work.”

You’re returning to the kitchen to pick up an order of pizza when Mr. Afton stops you. You immediately tense up, nervous around him. He sets you on edge, like a glass bottle ready to fall off the counter and shatter.

“Y/n,” he begins, voice unsettlingly smooth. “Come with me to my office, will you?”

Something screams at you not to go with him at all costs, but you can’t lose your job. Wordlessly you follow him anyway.

The office is relatively the same since you were last there. You settle down into the very same chair, nerves spiked. Mr. Afton sits behind the desk and slowly opens his eyes to stare at you in a way that makes you sick.

“Now, you’re a good employee,” he says slowly, and you swallow nervously. “But I was rewatching some of the camera footage… Now please, tell me this…  _ Why  _ have you and another employee been staying after hours with the night guard?”

You freeze up, coming up with nothing to respond to that. “W-Well… Um…” Mr. Afton lets out a sigh, one that seemed to drag on for ages.

“You are  _ not  _ on the night shift, Y/n. I do not want to see you here after hours, messing with the animatronics and such.” His voice sounded like a mixture between a disappointed parent and furious teacher.

You nod, worried you might be fired. But you can’t let that happen! You still need to help Freddy and his friends!

“This is your last warning,” Mr. Afton nearly growls. “If you break the rules again, I’m going to have to let you go. Am I clear?”

“Yes, of course,” you say quickly. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Your boss nods, seemingly satisfied with your response. “Right. That’s all. Get back to work!”

That’s… odd. Couldn’t he have said all of that without dragging you back here? Surely something this short took up valuable time.

You scurry out of his office, but right before you leave, something catches your eye. Your heart drops upon spotting the half-hidden mascot head tucked away behind a box of files. The yellow fur is matted and worn, and two long ears poke out from behind the box. It is, undoubtedly, a rabbit.

You can’t keep your mouth from falling open into a surprised ‘O’ as the door is shut behind you. Why would he have…

No way.

_ No way _ .

Throughout the rest of the day, you have all but one thought:

_ William Afton murdered those children. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my brain is melting but i love writing this story and im finally collecting enough plot points to just barely string together so that's great! hope you enjoy, next chapter might take longer to come out cause i want it to be bigger.


	15. a fox and its prey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please read the notes at the end, it's really important. thank you. also im sorry if this chapter isn't too... great. i feel like it's unbelievable and that the events don't fall into each other too well, but i don't know how else to write it

You need to tell Jeremy and Jordan what you’ve discovered. You need to tell the animatronics. But if you’ve been caught staying after hours, you’ll just have to tell Jeremy and have him pass the message along.

He’s sitting at the front desk like he usually does, and you find time in the rest of the day to approach him.

“Hey, Jer,” you greet him rather quickly. He turns to you, and smiles.

“Oh, hey Y/n. Something wrong?”

“ _ I know who it is _ ,” you hiss, eyeing the camera set up in the top corner of the small room.

“Who…? Oh. Oh! Oh my god.” Jeremy’s eyes widen, and he looks at you in complete surprise. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Boss caught us hanging out after hours, so you’ll need to look into this without me or Jordan,” you explain. Jeremy looks thoughtful for a brief moment before nodding.

“Of course, yeah. So…”

You lower your voice, just barely above a whisper. “The boss himself.”

“How-”

“Saw the Spring Bonnie head in his office. And it just makes sense, y’know? He would’ve definitely had access to the old suits.”

Jeremy thinks it over, connecting the dots. “Oh my god. Okay, I’ll tell the… others about it tonight. Then we’ll go from there. Oh! Also, we all discussed something while you were… sleeping.”

You feel your cheeks heat up at the memories of last night. You haven’t been able to shake the feeling of being in Freddy’s arms the entire day.

Jeremy continues, “We were all talking about the suit used to commit the murders. It apparently has this mechanism called ‘springlocks’.”

You listen as he explains how the suits could be used as both costumes and animatronics with the springlocks. It’s all pretty intriguing, but the conversation turns gruesome when he tells you how if the locks were to snap shut while someone was inside, it’d kill them.  _ Slowly _ .

The animatronics had decided it was only fitting that “the bad man” were to be punished by the thing he used to protect himself.

_ A springlock failure _ .

It’s sickening, but this was what he deserved. Right? You get an odd mix of a woozy relieved feeling at having solved this all but it’s accompanied by a deep sense of dread. Both emotions flood your system, making you a little dizzy.

Regardless, you smile, feeling a sense of victory. Was this it? Had you finally done it?

“They told me how each spirit is tethered to a certain animatronic,” Jeremy goes on. “Once they’ve been avenged… They’ll be set free.”

“Oh,” you mean to say, but it comes out as a hushed whisper. Jeremy says nothing more, so you take your leave.

Mind whirling, you exit the pizzeria. You feel so light on your feet, almost giddy. You move to unlock your car, when you suddenly pause. Your eyes drift over and you see Mr. Afton, a cigarette between his fingers.

He’s leaning against a dark purple car, watching you in a way that makes your skin prickle. You wrinkle your nose, and swiftly turn away from him. Your heart beat picks up. Something is… off.

H is gaze was dark, calculating something almost. With a gasp you look up. He was watching you like a fox, preparing to leap onto an unsuspecting bird.

He was the fox.

_ You were his prey. _

You slam your car door shut, and jog back to the pizzeria. Maybe he’ll think you’re going back to get something you forgot. You let out a huff, hearing the satisfying  _ click  _ of the door falling shut behind you.

Jeremy and the animatronics look up from their game of Monopoly.

“Y/n?” Chica asks, standing up and abandoning the game. “What are you doing?”

“He was out there. He saw me. I- I’m next.” Your words are mushed together, panic clear in your voice.

“William Afton?” Bonnie guesses, standing up as well. When you nod, his expression shifts into something more concerned.

“He was looking at me, all serious and stuff. I’m next, I know it.” Tears are beginning to burn in your eyes, but you can’t cry. Not here.

“This might be getting dangerous,” Freddy notes, worry lacing his tone. “If he’s contemplating doing something, then…”

“B-But we’ll need you, Y/n!” Chica cries out. “We were  _ just  _ finalizing the plan and you’re gonna play a big part in it!” Bonnie rests a hand on her arm.

“We can’t force her to do anything,” he reminds Chica gently.

“I can’t- I can’t do this,” you begin, voice cracking. “I don’t want to lose  _ my _ life, or even worse, my job, but I don’t want the spirits to suffer…” You trail off, sniffling. Tears burn in your eyes and you feel pathetic crying in front of the others like this, but they just look upset.

Freddy strides over to you, until he’s right in front of you. You have to admit, he’s  _ tall _ . There’s something hidden behind his gaze when he gingerly places a hand on your shoulder, something that screams ‘I want to hug you.’ If you were honest, you wanted to hug him too.

“I know, it’s going to be difficult,” he says, “but this isn’t just for us. This is for  _ you _ . We-  _ I  _ want you to be safe. I don’t want him to hurt you. Or… anyone else. That’s why you- we have to hurt him first.” His voice drops with the last sentence, turning into more of a growl. Upon seeing your teary-eyed, red face, Freddy’s expression softens.

“We need you,” he whispers. Suddenly you’re hyper-aware of his hand resting against your shoulder, and how close you two are. It makes your heart thump wildy against your ribcage.

You wipe your eyes, shoulders sagging with sudden exhaustion. Freddy’s ears perk up when you let out a weak laugh.

“I want to help you, I really do. But how do you know he’ll fall for… whatever you’ve got planned?” you ask, shuffling back. Freddy’s smile falls and you think you see his eyes glow.

“Trust me,” he swears, “he’ll get cocky. He’ll think he’s  _ safe _ . We just need to make sure he’s in the Spring Bonnie suit…”

“Right,” you mutter.

“Don’t worry!” Freddy suddenly blurts out. “You’ll be fine. This will be great! And then-”

“And then ‘your’ spirits will be free? Or- at least avenged?”

Freddy lets out a rumbling laugh. “Our spirits will be free, yes, but not our sentience.”

“So… you’ll still-”

“We’ll still be here,” he cuts you off. You relax, mouth breaking out into a beaming smile. Suddenly the situation doesn’t seem so dire now.

“Right. Yeah.”

Your eyes drift over to one of the windows, and you notice Mr. Afton and his car are gone.

“He’s gone, but he might be nearby!” Foxy says loudly. “We can watch out for yeh, make sure he doesn’t try anythin’.”

You smile, grateful. Fortunately, you make it home without any trouble.

As you’re snuggling underneath the covers of your bed, you don’t notice the dark corner in your room. Two bright white eyes narrow. A low chuckling fills the room, but you’re fast asleep by this point.

A figure emerges from the shadows. It dusts off its… legs and glides to the side of your bed. Arms raise, hands steadily lowering just above your head. The tips of its fingers brush against your head, and the thing pushes them down. Its hands pass through your head.

You find yourself plagued with horrid nightmares that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been kinda struggling with this. i'm getting worried that i might be updating far too often and that it may be annoying? and im also beginning to loathe the way i write, i feel like it comes out choppy and i especially think the dialogue is ramble-y and just overall unrealistic. that being said, i will not discontinue this fic, and i still want to finish it, but im gonna put more effort into rereading, revising and adding more description and such. thank you, if you've decided to read this all!


	16. springlock failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw: springlock failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways

“Y/n.”

“Mr. Afton, sir.”

He narrows his eyes. You keep your expression neutral, not giving away the flurry of emotions you were feeling at that moment. This moment was crucial. After hours, with nobody around, just you cleaning up for the night. And your boss.

Your boss, who you knew had some type of murder weapon hidden on him. The security cameras were off, and Jeremy shouldn’t be arriving for another hour or so. The plan was set in stone, one wrong move and you’d be…

You suppress a shudder, trying not to think of the worst. It’d taken many long nights of convincing to do this. To be here, at this very moment, looking death in the eyes.

“Easy day, wasn’t it?” Mr. Afton asks you cooly. You nod curtly, not breaking eye contact.

“Easy enough.”

You both know he has nothing to hide. His objective tonight is obvious, and he clearly thinks you aren’t going to return home afterwards. If all goes, well, he’ll be  _ very _ wrong, and it’ll be the other way around.

Letting out a low hum, your boss carefully makes his way closer to you. You have to stop yourself from wrinkling your nose in disgust. Is he trying to… what,  _ seduce  _ you or something?

Mr. Afton is frowning, and you feel your heart drop in a quick moment of panic. Has he seen through your facade? But then, he allows a smile to creep onto his face and you relax, if only a little bit.

He leans in and for a brief moment you can only think,  _ Oh god, oh no, _ but then he’s right beside your head.

“Funny,” he whispers directly into your ear, “how you seem to accept your fate.” You feel frozen, like this is all some sick nightmare and all the rules are against you winning and waking up.

You lick your lips, mouth dry. “Fate is never truly frozen in place,” you manage to spit back, keeping the venom mostly out of your tone. Your eyes drift upward, and you just barely manage not to smile when you see Charlotte towering over the both of you.

You can almost feel Mr. Afton freeze up when Charlotte reaches both hands to his shoulders. Her voice is no longer sad, no longer empty. The pain is gone, replaced by a raging anger. It chills you.

“ _ Have you forgotten I’m still here _ ?”

Mr. Afton doesn’t know what to do. Obviously he expected you to be…  _ acquainted  _ with the animatronics, but not Charlotte.

She isn’t even touching him, but you can tell he’s scared. Or, at the very least, nervous. He doesn’t move away from you.

“ _ Face your sins, Mr. Afton _ ,” Charlotte whispers. It echoes across the room, nearly making your head spin with the power that resides in her tone. White, ghostly images of small children flicker all around the room. Each corresponding animatronic steps up behind them.  _ His victims _ . You’ve learned their names by now.

Jeremy’s stare is hard and unkind. He’s holding a hand over the large gash in his stomach. Fritz glares at Mr. Afton in an oddly playful way. A toy hook has been placed over whatever bloody mess was left of his one hand. Susie is somberly retying the ribbons in her hair and smoothing out her dress. She hasn’t looked up at her murderer yet, and her gaze is bitter. Lastly, Gabriel is covering the slit in his throat with one hand, eyes closed. His face is twisted in pain.

Finally, your boss leans away from you. The expression he wears is an odd mixture of several things; Fear, frustration, and cold, icy hatred. It’s only a moment before an eerie calmness washes over his face, masking his emotions.

“You can’t hurt one of your own,” he murmurs quietly. He begins backing away from you, letting out low chuckles. Charlotte watches him, and then he bolts.

She doesn’t chase after him. You don’t chase after him.

He’s spotted the discarded Spring Bonnie suit, tossed away in the corner. Right, one of the animatronics had placed it there. Crazed, Mr. Afton roughly grabbed the mascot head.

You hear his cackles as he’s slipping into the Spring Bonnie suit. It’s only a few more minutes until it’s all on. Good, he must’ve put the suit on hastily and sloppily.

“ ‘ _ Have you forgotten _ ’?” Mr. Afton mocks Charlotte’s earlier words. “Oh, of course not. But have  _ you  _ forgotten that you’re only the echoes of dead children! What can you possibly do to me, especially in  _ here _ ?” His words shake only slightly, giving away that he’s still scared. You allow yourself to smirk.

From the supply closet, down the hallway, come Jordan and Jeremy. They’ve been waiting up until now, hidden until everyone had left. They share your knowing smile. Both stand on either side of you, and that’s when Mr. Afton truly begins to look uncertain.

“You’ve gotten away with this for far too long,” Freddy hisses, standing protectively behind Gabriel with a large hand resting above his shoulder. Your boss realizes his mistake. He hurries to push the mascot’s head off of his own but-

She’s right behind him, someone new. Long black hair, eyes blank with lust for revenge. You understand. This must be Cassidy, the last of the children.

Her transparent hands wrap around Mr. Afton’s throat, sliding up into the costume’s head, and you hear a snap.

Mr. Afton- no,  _ William _ buckles over, letting out a harsh coughing noise. You hear a collection of different-sounding snaps, some louder and others quieter. This was it, the ‘springlock failure’.

A scream rips itself out of William’s throat. He wraps his arms around himself, shaking uncontrollably. You cover your mouth with your hand, bile rising in the back of your throat.

William continues screaming in agony, bones cracking and crunching. Scarlet red seeps out from the cracks, crevices and joints of the yellow rabbit suit, pooling beneath him. His legs can’t hold him up much longer and he collapses into his own blood, wailing and begging.

“Please- somebody-  _ take it off _ -” he’s crying out, voice all gurgly and muffled by the costume’s head. The stench of pennies arises around you and you gag, nearly falling over yourself.

You want to turn away and run, but your eyes are glued to his twitching body. It’s spazzing out in horrific jerky movements, and with each time you hear more  _ crunching _ .

You’re beginning to feel sick. Your own legs are shaking now, the longer you watch this horrific scene. You feel a hand on your shoulder and turn to see Jordan staring at you. Their face is pale- yours must be too.

It drags on and on and on. After a few more minutes William falls silent, excluding the scratchy hoarse breathing coming from the suit. He’s still twitching and shaking.

“Is… Is that it?” Jeremy croaks. His eyes are wide, having witnessed death first-hand.

“I…” It’s so difficult to form words, so you just stare at him silently. The spirits still stand in front of the animatronics. Cassidy still watches William’s trembling body.

After a few moments of silent staring, laughter echoes out from the fresh corpse lying before you. You watch, expression twisted in horror, as it rises up. Cassidy drifts backwards, eyes wide. Her mouth is pulled into a tight frown.

The- the  _ thing _ ’s movements are slow and shaky. Beads of blood roll down the suit as he forces himself to his feet.

“You  _ fools _ ,” William cackles. His voice is rough and crackly. How was he still able to talk? “Oh, how gullible you all are.  _ Especially  _ you, my dear Y/n.” He turns to you. You can’t see his face behind the bloodied mascot head. You don’t want to, either.

“W-What?” you manage to choke out.

“Remember that ‘last warning’ I gave you? Oh, yes, I watched you ‘discover’ Spring Bonnie’s head.” Your mind is whirling, thoughts churning. You can’t keep up. “Darling, I  _ put  _ it there for you to find! You think I’m an idiot who leaves my murder tools lying around?”

You can’t move. Did you… help him achieve his goal?

“Now that my soul has attached itself to this wretched body, I am, in the meantime, immortal. A downgrade, yes, but hopefully I won’t stay like this for long. I have just barely reached my goal. And  _ you  _ have helped me do it.”

You hear Jordan suck in a sharp breath. Jeremy stumbles back in shock. You don’t even know  _ how  _ to react.

You wanted to help your friends. That’s what you tried to do, right? William looks like he’s gone mad with what he just achieved.

He throws his arms up, grinning wickedly. You swear you see his shadow curl up from the wall to grab onto his shoulders. It looks familiar. “They aren’t your friends!” William screams to the spirits. “They’re the ones hurting you. They’ve hurt you far worse than I ever did!”

Mad with anger, the spirits can’t recognize who the true villain is.

All the animatronic’s heads snap towards your trembling group. Their eyes are inky black, glowing white dots for pupils poking out from the darkness. Their mouths hang open.

“We need to run,” Jeremy hisses. Jordan nods hurriedly.

You grab both of their hands and bolt down the long hallway to the office. If you can just get in and close the door… maybe you’ll all have a chance.

The spirits are relentless with their rage, using the animatronic’s bodies to run. Each spirit seemingly melts into the robots that stood behind them. Their padded footsteps pound against the tile floor. You’re heaving, heart beating heavily against your ribs. The hallway seems to stretch on forever, but finally, you’re nearing the office.

You spare a quick glance behind you to see Freddy reaching for you. He’s just a step behind you. You push your friends through the gaping entrance of the office, and try to get yourself in, but a sturdy, furred arm hooks around your waist. You scream, flailing for the doorway. Jordan lurches forward to try and grab you, but the  _ thing  _ holding you sways back, out of reach.

“Y/n!” Jordan screeches, beginning to run out of the office. Jeremy holds them back.

“I’ll be fine!” you force out, having trouble getting air into your lungs. The bear is squeezing you against him and it feels like your chest is being  _ compressed _ . “Close the doors!”

“We’ll get you back,” Jeremy swears, and the last you see of your friends is their panicked faces before a large metal door slams down, separating you. You don’t feel angry at him for shutting you out, obviously to your own death. You don’t want to endanger your friends. Maybe they’ll have a chance at survival now.

Your back is pressed against a hard furred surface that you know is Freddy’s chest. He’s holding you just under his chin, and you feel like a child due to how  _ small  _ you are compared to him.

You struggle, kicking your legs and twisting yourself, yet his grasp on you hardens. Your breath comes out in short bursts, heart beating wildly. Your arms and legs ache from pushing yourself to run so fast and you can’t struggle any longer.

You go limp in Freddy’s hold, trying to catch your breath. You see him point towards the doors, a way of telling Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy to try and bang them open. You close your eyes, sighing.  _ Is this the angered spirit carrying me to my death? Or is it  _ **_Freddy_ ** ? you wonder bitterly. The bear lumbers away, heading to the Parts and Services. You hang your head low, already giving up. This is it. You’re done for.

Distantly you notice a few things- Freddy radiates a warmth from his chest that makes you feel all fuzzy and sleepy. It would’ve been comforting if not for the situation you currently found yourself in. Now it’s just sickening. He was literally bringing you to your death! How could you ever feel  _ comfortable _ ?

The door to the stuffy Parts and Services room is pushed open and you gulp, body tingling. You see the same unforgiving metal table. You’re gently ( _ gently _ ?) placed onto the table and it almost burns your body with how frigid it is.

Yes, you’ll admit it. You’re scared.  _ Terrified _ . It doesn’t help with how close Freddy is to you.

He never really let go of you, arms resting under yours and against your sides. His face is a mere inches from yours, staring you down. You can feel his breath on your face, musty and low. You cringe backwards, trying to scoot away.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” you stammer, voice cracking horribly. You want to help the spirits. You want to free them. Yet, here you are, about to die. You know tears aren’t far behind. Freddy’s eyebrows lift, ears perking up. The darkness in his eyes ebbs away, and you almost feel relief when you see the original, striking blue return. His mouth creaks open.

“Don’t be,” he breathes out, and your heart stops. You see someone resting against his shoulder.  _ Gabriel _ .

He leans over to one of Freddy’s ears and whispers something that sounds like “I know how much…” before it fades to gibberish you can’t hear. Then, the spirit turns to you, nods, and fades away.

You stare at the bear in shock, unable to come up with anything to say. Freddy looks away from you, leaning back slightly. It looks like he’s contemplating something. In an instant his eyes flash with realization.

“You thought we were going to… hurt you?” he asks softly, expression softening. Seriously though, how was he so expressive? He was a robot!

“You and the others looked so angry… Especially after the things Wiliam said. How could I not have thought that…?” you trail off, swallowing. Freddy sits back, bringing his arms away from you.

“I could never,” he admits quietly. “If it was someone else, and I hate to admit this-  _ sure _ . But not you. Never you.”

You feel the first tear run down your cheek and Freddy moves to brush it away. You stiffen, almost uncomfortable at the intimacy of the moment. His hand lingers, cupping the side of your face. You hate it. Why do you hate it?

You can’t deny the pounding of your heart, and the butterflies in your stomach.

“Why not me? What makes me so different from everyone else?” you dare to question, narrowing your eyes. You try to harden your expression as much as you can but it’s difficult with tears still getting ready to run down your face and a trembling lip. Why did Gabriel decide to spare you? Did he recognize you, finally?

“Because I-” he cuts himself off suddenly, tearing his eyes away from your face. His eyes glow in what seems to be a resemblance of… blushing? “Something about you just…  _ draws me closer _ . A-And Gabriel knew that too. He- he didn’t want to take you away from me.” Freddy straightens up, letting his hand fall, and you hiccup, wiping your eyes.

“I want to protect you,” he says in a hushed voice. “I want to  _ hurt  _ you,  _ claw at you _ , I want to  _ hold  _ you.” His eyes flash dark for a split second but the way he speaks has you trembling.

“I’d never actually,” he adds hastily. “I… You intrigue me. Greatly.” He seems so nervous he’s almost stumbling over his words and for a moment you think,  _ cute _ .

“I think…” He brings his hands back to you and you realize you aren’t flinching away. “I think I’m in love with you.”

You let out a surprised laugh. Freddy’s ears shoot up, eyes glowing so brightly it hurts to look at him. But you can’t help it. It feels surreal.  _ An animatronic _ ? In  _ love  _ with you? And you thought just being  _ friends  _ with an animatronic was insane!

“You can stop joking now,” you giggle, accepting this whole ordeal as some sick prank.

“What? No- Look, I know it’s crazy but I can’t… I keep thinking of you,” Freddy sputters. You’re losing hope that this is fake. Holy shit-  _ does he actually like you _ ? You flush, bringing your shoulders up and looking away.

“You’re kidding,” you squeak. Freddy shakes his head.

“I’m not.”

Your breath catches in your throat, face burning. This is ridiculous.  _ This is insane _ . Yet, he’s still looking at you, eyes glowing softly in the darkness of the small room. His hands brush against the sides of your face.

If you think about it, and you  _ have _ , didn’t you feel the same?

You remember every time you felt your heart pick up around him, every spare glance you’ve given him, and then your mind flashes back to that night with the 1700s Sea Shanties. With him.

You felt safe, that night. It’s lingered in the back of your head ever since you’d woken up.

You found yourself wanting him to hold you again.

Oh, god, you really were in love with an animatronic, weren’t you?

You find yourself averting your eyes, turning away from him. Your face is undoubtedly beet red, and you can still feel your heart thumping wildly, as if it were trying to break free out of your chest.

His hands gently move your head back until you’re facing him. You notice his eyes are half-lidded, staring at you intently. You swallow nervously.

You move your hands up to gingerly grab onto Freddy’s arms. His ears go up slightly, and then,

and then,

he’s leaning in.

It’s a strange, clumsy attempt at a kiss, but a kiss nonetheless. It’s odd how it works, how cold metal meets soft skin, but it somehow manages. Your arms stretch out to wrap around his neck  as he pushes his mouth against yours.

The rough fur on the back of his head scratches against your fingers. One of his hands begins to creep up your shirt while the other tangles itself in your hair.

It’s odd, but it worked, and  _ holy shit _ , were you glad it worked.

When he pulls away, you’re absolutely breathless. You feel all dazed and everything tingles. Warmth buzzes through your entire body. Freddy lets out an airy laugh, and leans in again, this time nestling into the crook of your neck. His hand, still just barely up your shirt, brushes against your side in a way that makes you squirm, and you hold in a laugh. Your legs are beginning to go numb from the freezing surface of the table you’re still sitting on, and you shift in discomfort.

“You have  _ no  _ idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Freddy mumbles against your neck.

“Oh yeah?” A smile creeps onto your face. The entire moment feels like a fever dream at this point. A really, really good fever dream.

A fever dream that, at some point, has to come to an end.

The warmth you’ve been feeling dies down, dread replacing it in a flash. You straighten up, and Freddy turns his head to look up at you.

“Are…” You trail off, but shake away the terrible thoughts and move on. “Are Jordan and Jeremy going to be okay?”

Freddy leans back, and you see the uncertainty flash in his eyes. “I…”

“ _ There  _ you two are!”

You look up to see Charlotte drifting  _ through  _ the door of the Parts and Services room. If she takes notice of the somewhat suggestive position you’re in, she doesn’t comment on it.

“Charlotte,” Freddy greets her, clearing his throat and fully moving away from you. You miss his warmth immediately.

“Susie and Jeremy have calmed down,” she informs the both of you. “And it seems so has Gabriel. Fritz is still… upset, and Cassidy…”

“What about- What about Jordan and Jeremy?” you pipe up, a little nervous.

“They’re fine,” Charlotte tells you, and you let out a sigh of relief.

“But then with Fritz and Cassidy?” Freddy asks.

Charlotte hesitates with her answer. “Fritz will either eventually tire himself out, or everything will… ‘come into focus’. Cassidy, however… she disappeared when Afton did.”

“What?” Freddy breathes out. “William is-?”

“He seemingly slipped away when you all started chasing after each other,” Charlotte explains. “Cassidy was enraged, and once  _ he  _ was gone, the next moment I looked away, so was she.”

“Well we- we need to find him!” Freddy exclaims.

“ _ I _ need to find him. Both of them,” Charlotte corrects him. “ _ You _ need to stay here. With your…” Her head turns slightly towards you and you feel a blush crawl onto your face at her  implications. “Friends.”

Freddy knew he wouldn’t be able to argue with her, so he dips his head into a nod. “Right… Stay safe.” Charlotte raises one hand in a wave, before drifting back out of the room. When she’s gone, Freddy lets out a rough sigh.

“It’ll be okay,” you reassure him, hopping off the table. Your legs are numb and standing up gives you pins and needles, but you make yourself walk over to his side anyway. “We’ll find William, he couldn’t have gone too far. I mean, he looked like he could barely walk!” Freddy still looks doubtful.

“Let’s go back to the others, okay?” you say, grabbing his hand and moving towards the door. He walks with you, quiet.

Foxy is slumped across the wall, eyes closed and mouth hanging open. When you find the others, hand in hand with Freddy, they all turn up to you. You notice Chica’s eyes shine and Bonnie’s mouth quirks up into a smile. Other than that, they look… tired. They’re still in the hallway, not too far from the office’s entrance. Jordan and Jeremy stand nearby.

“Is he okay?” Freddy demands, dropping your hand to approach Foxy. He kneels in front of the unmoving fox, staring intently at him.

“Fritz finally calmed down enough and just… abandoned ship, so to say,” Bonnie explains. “The others are with him now, but Foxy hasn’t turned back on…”

“It shouldn’t be long now!” Chica adds hopefully.

“I see…” Freddy nods, standing back up. There’s a moment of silence, before Chica makes a high squealing noise.

“So?” she asks, smiling widely. “You two have been gone for a while!” You know your face is beginning to turn red but you ignore it.

“Is this really the time to talk about… this?” Jordan chimes in, raising an eyebrow. Chica shoots her a playful glare.

“They have a point,” Jeremy backs them up. He still looks pale. “After what just happened… Shouldn’t we discuss  _ that _ ?”

“Charlotte’s going to handle it right now,” Bonnie says. “Besides, there’s always tomorrow.”

_ Tomorrow. _

“Maybe it’d be better to relax right now,” he concludes.

“It was a traumatic experience, especially for you guys,” Chica smiles gently at you, Jordan and Jeremy. “Plus, you both need to fill us in on what happened!” She turns to you and Freddy.

Freddy lets out a nervous laugh. “Ah, nothing too important.”

Jordan gasps. “You two  _ fucked _ !”

“What?! That’s not- that’s not even  _ possible _ ,” you splutter, completely baffled. How does one even come to a conclusion like that?

“Yeah, we weren’t exactly built with…” Bonnie trails off, nodding ‘down there’. “Y’know? That’d be kinda weird for a  _ kids restaurant _ .”

“So then what did happen?” Jordan asks instead. Freddy remains silent and you look at the ground, unresponsive.

Bonnie, with his signature shit-eating grin, guesses, “Ya kissed?”

When you and Freddy don’t answer, Chica throws her arms up and squeals, running to engulf you in a bone-breaking hug.

“I knew it, I knew it!” she cries. “Oh, I was just  _ waiting  _ for this to happen!”

“You- You were?” you wheeze.

“Of course! Ever since Fred first told us about his feelings and stuff,” Bonnie grins.

“Well, well well,” Jeremy starts, smiling as well. “Freddy and Y/n, huh?”

You can feel your face burning up with all of this attention. You bury your face in your hands, groaning. Jordan laughs.

“Wow! Never would’a thought. I’m  _ so _ glad you all aren’t normal animatronics. That would’ve been…” Jordan shudders at the thought.

“Oh, gross!” Jeremy sticks his tongue out, grimacing. “Don’t put that thought in my head!”

Suddenly Foxy jerks awake. You all spin around to see him nearly throw himself off the wall and onto his feet.

“Wh- What happened?” he grumbles, unsteady on his feet.

“You basically blacked out,” Chica tells him, rushing over to his side. She steadies him. “When Fritz left you just… collapsed.”

“Ay see…” Foxy mutters. “Would yeh fill me in on what I missed?”

Chica glances at the rest of you. “Let’s give Y/n and Freddy some alone time, and fill Foxy in?” She wears a smug expression.

“And we need to clean the blood off the floor!” Bonnie adds.

“Wha? Why would yeh give ‘em alone-” Foxy begins to question, but Chica is already pushing him into the next room. Bonnie, Jordan and Jeremy follow after Chica, snickering.

And you’re alone.

It’s almost awkward.

Freddy nods his head over towards another hallway that leads to one of the party rooms. It’s the same one as before.

There, the quiet is… nice. Comfortable, at least. You’re both settled at one of the tables, right next to each other.

You let out a sigh, falling over against Freddy’s shoulder. He looks down at you.

“Tired?”

“Yeah.”

His eyes gleam in a way that gives him so much more life. “We might have a few blankets in the back.”

Covered in blankets, wrapped in Freddy’s arms is how you spend the rest of the night. You slowly slip into an undisturbed sleep.

You wake up alone. It’s cold. The blankets are tattered and stained red.

_ His  _ corpse lies before you. You gag at the smell, standing up and stumbling away from it. Then you hear a low chuckling.

From the body, a shadow rises. The features are blurry but you make out a muzzle, bunny tail, and two bunny ears, drooping over its head. Its white pupils stretch out to fill its entire eyes. The thing’s teeth are glowing white along with the eyes. Other than that, it's pitch black. You can see no light reflecting off it.

“ _ Finally _ ,” the thing purrs, stretching. “So good to be out of the dark.”

“You!” you gasp out, recognizing the voice immediately. “ _ You’re _ the thing that’s been following me in my dreams?”

“Of course! Who else would I be?” it replies, grinning. You shrink away from it, suddenly nervous.

“What do you want from me?” you ask, getting almost defensive. The shadow-being hums, tilting its head down.

“That depends. What do  _ you  _ want from me? I mean, you keep coming back here.”

You blink in confusion. That can’t be right, can it? Are you really the one coming to this thing, rather than the other way around?

As if it can read your thoughts, it answers, “Yes, that’s basically what’s happening!”

You stay silent for a moment, thinking. What do you want from this… shadow? Something comes to your head and you speak. “Who- or what- are you?”

“Oh, what a good question!” the thing chirps. “And what a fun story as well! You see, I’m a-”

“Please- somebody-  _ take it off _ -”  William cries out, shaking and fumbling with the mascot head, trying to rip it off. You see him, and then you can’t look away from the horrific sight all over again.

“I ca- I can’t-  _ somebody _ ,  _ please- _ ”

The shadow is gone now.

It’s just you all alone.

All alone with  William’s tortured screams.

You fall backwards, but you don’t hit the floor. You continue falling into nothing, plummeting into the void. You cry out but your voice is silenced. Your head is pounding, and your ears ring. It’s nauseating, and you squeeze your eyes shut until-

Your eyes fly open. You’re wrapped up in a warm embrace, and immediately feel at ease. You’re safe.  _ You’re safe _ .

Letting out a soft sigh, you snuggle closer into the warmth, closer to the one holding you. It isn’t long before sleep reclaims its hold on you.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my god, i've been working on this chapter nonstop, really hope it at least meets all of your expectations being "The" Chapter. um, i love writing this story so much, i wrote some parts of this chapter a lot earlier and had to fix things so it would make sense. writing kisses is kinda hard for me and throwing an animatronic into the mix just makes that a lot harder. usually when i think of the animatronics in this story i imagine @speefus 's animatronic designs (on instagram, consider following because they're a god). speaking of instagram, i do have one if you wanna check it out. @flying_cheesecake29 , i post art and sometimes edits or animations. if you do follow, don't be afraid to dm me and tell me you came from this story! i've kinda been lookin for a proof-reader ahaha- but yEAH, i'll see you all in the next chapter! it probably won't be as long as this one, but we'll see. stay safe !!


	17. the morning after (NOT in that way!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lmao "Join Us for a Bite" reference near the end hahaha

You wake up to the sensation of something running through your hair. Large hands, it seems. It’s a very comforting feeling.

You make a low ‘mmh’ sound and bury your head into the cozyness, trying to hold onto that familiar fuzzy feeling.

“Are you up?”

Freddy’s voice is soft, unsure if you were awake or not. It rumbles out, making his chest vibrate slightly. His hands freeze, still in your hair. You don’t reply for a moment, lost in his warm embrace.

“Yeah, just barely,” comes your quiet reply. You swear you sense him smile.

“You slept for a while.”

“What time is it?” You sit up with a yawn and rub your eyes to try and wake yourself up a bit more.

“Hm, about 5 AM,” Freddy tells you, looking towards the window. Cold sunlight peeks over the horizon, barely brushing against the restaurant. It creeps in through the windows, almost outlining the animatronic holding you.

You both fall into silence for a little bit, until a thought comes to you.

“Who… who’s going to run the pizzeria now? With William gone? Surely there’s going to be some sort of investigation… it’s going to be messy,” you point out.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Freddy admits. You tilt your head up slowly, gesturing for him to continue. “I mean- I assume they’re going to promote someone who’s been here a while. Maybe… that Carolynn girl? It’s hard not to notice how hard working she is.”

“Hm, I can see that,” you hum. “Y’think we’ll be suspected for anything?”

One of Freddy’s eyebrows raise, making you internally snort. “What, you think they’ll suspect  _ animatronics _ for  _ murder _ ?” The word ‘murder’ makes you freeze for a moment. Because, well, that’s what you all did right? You murdered someone.

_ You murdered someone _ .

He deserved it, didn’t he? This was what vengeance looked like, right? Someone else’s blood on your hands, but he  _ deserved it _ . He hurt your friends, he made them go through absolute hell.  _ And he didn’t show an ounce of regret _ .

But he wasn’t dead. And now he was missing, probably looking to cause more harm.

“Y/n?” Freddy shakes you lightly, but his voice sounds… muffled. You’re too lost in the storm of thoughts raging through your head to fully hear him. William Afton wasn’t truly dead. If anything, you made him stronger. Or was everything he said just some sort of bluff?

All the thoughts you’ve so desperately tried to lock away came bursting into your head, like the dam that’d been holding them back broke. Just a continuous stream of  _ William isn’t dead, William isn’t dead, William isn’t- _

“Y/n!” He’s shaking you harder now, attempting to snap you out of whatever trance you were in. You inhale shakily, forcing your eyes closed. The thoughts subside, and the world around you comes back into focus.

“Sorry, sorry,” you apologize, words rushed. Freddy’s staring at you with a look of concern, and it makes you shrivel up inside a little bit.

“Hey, no, it’s okay. What was that all about, though?”

You swallow. “Sorry, um, I’m just… thinking.”

“About… William?” Freddy guesses, and you nod slowly. His expression softens, but you continue before he has the chance to say anything.

“I’m just worried about what he might be able to do. I mean, he might’ve died, but he came back! A-And did I- did I help him? Does that mean I’ve  _ failed _ ?” You’re stumbling over your words, guilt gripping at your chest. The more you talk, the more you’re realizing how truly horrible the situation is.

“No! God, no, you didn’t fail! None of us could’ve known that he wanted this all along. This isn’t your fault.” Freddy’s voice is soothing, washing over you like a gentle wave. You let out a sigh, sagging against him. The anxiety fades into the back of your mind, and you’re left feeling mentally exhausted.

“You want anything to eat before you go back home? I think we have some leftover pizza or something in the kitchen,” Freddy offers. You internally gag at the thought.

“No offense, but the pizza here is…” You grimace upon imagining the disgusting, greasy  _ garbage _ Fazbear’s Pizza liked to call food. Freddy lets out a rumbling laugh and you drop the expression, chuckling as well.

“Yeah… it’s terrible,” he agrees. “So, ah, when do you think you’re gonna leave?”

You consider the question for a moment. “Probably soon. I need to get ready for my next shift.” Freddy nods.

“Right. That makes sense.”

Was it just your imagination or did he look… upset?

“What?” you grin, holding back a giggle. “You gonna  _ miss  _ me?” Freddy deflates, ears drooping.

“…Yeah,” he admits quietly.

“Oh, c’mon. It’s only gonna be an hour!” You reach a hand out, gently cupping his cheek. He leans into the touch, eyes falling closed.

“I know, I know. It’s just… I thought maybe we could’ve spent more time together tonight.” You frown at his words.

“There’s always tomorrow night.”

“Don’t you think the place is gonna be completely closed, though? For investigation purposes, and such. They might not let anyone in for a while,” Freddy says.

“Oh.” He’s right, the pizzeria will most likely be closed once investigations begin. It’s a little difficult to completely wrap your mind around the fact that William is technically missing. There  _ will  _ be a search for him. You may even be questioned about it. The thought makes you uncomfortable.

After a moment of silence, you brighten up again. “I’m sure it’ll reopen again at some point- if it ever closes in the first place.” Freddy offers you a soft smile.

“Okay- yeah. I’ll… I’ll see you then.”

With a grin, you lean up to peck the bear on the cheek. His eyes brighten up, resembling a blush, and you shimmy out of the mess of blankets you had wrapped yourselves in.

The drive home is quiet.

  
  


*******

  
  


“Have you seen Mr. Afton anytime soon?” Carolynn chirps to you the next morning. You shake your head, ignoring the flip your stomach does. When you’d gone home all you could think about was his death. It replayed in your mind over and over and over again…

Carolynn huffs, returning to the stack of dirty plates. “He hasn’t arrived yet… and it’s almost  _ 1 _ ! Gosh, I’m a little worried.”

The place was a little understaffed that day, as Nick hadn’t been able to come in. At the moment you and Carolynn were taking care of cleaning up after the lunch-hour rush.

“Uh-huh,” you mutter, barely paying attention. Your hands are beginning to ache from scrubbing grime off several plates so hard. You pause, and loosen your grip, not even realizing how hard you’d been holding it.

“Nobody’s heard anything from him!” Carolynn continues. “Not even an email or something.”

“Why do you care so much?” you grumble, getting annoyed.

“Well, because he’s our boss? And he’s such a nice man! Gave me a raise last week,” Carolynn says, eyeing you. You hold in a snort. Oh, if only she knew.

“Because you  _ deserved  _ that raise, ‘Care. You’re like, the only one who really cares about this job,” you reply instead.

“I wouldn’t say that…” Carolynn tries to protest.

The silence that follows after is a little tense. You fall into your thoughts, body going into auto-pilot. Your arms are growing tired from having them constantly moving.

“I notice you’ve been staring at the animatronics a lot more,” Carolynn pipes up suddenly. You pause for a moment, eyes widening slightly. Did she know?

“Um, yeah?” you say, glancing over to her. She wasn’t looking up at you, focusing on wiping down some of the kitchen’s surfaces.

“You have a favorite?”

It’s kind of an odd question, but you shrug it off as simple small-talk. “Hm… Freddy.” You hold back a smile at fond memories involving him.

“I like Chica,” Carolynn grins. “She seems so upbeat! Always singing and cheering.”

You hum quietly, showing your acknowledgement. Any time you’ve spent with Chica after hours was always a good time; the chicken animatronic would joke and it was so easy to laugh along with her. Her and Carolynn had a lot in common, now that you think about it… Maybe someday you’d introduce the two.

“Chica’s fun,” you comment after a moment of silence. “Bonnie seems like kind of a jerk though, don’t you think?”

Carolynn chuckles. “Oh, I wouldn’t say  _ that _ . To me, he seems like such a sweetheart!”

You let out a snort. “Do you even notice all his eye-rolls and sarcastic comebacks?”

“It’s not nice to call him a jerk for that, though! It’s… personality,” Carolynn insists, throwing a grin your way. You laugh, feeling some of the tension leave your body.

“Fine, so he’s a sweet jerk?” you settle on, and Carolynn considers it for a moment before nodding in agreement. You have to admit, the entire interaction has you letting your guard down completely. You feel- how can you put this?- at  _ home _ . It’s a warm feeling that fills you up and keeps you smiling. It reminds you of the moments you’ve had with Freddy.

You both spend the rest of the night easing into comfortable conversation and playful bickering. When you finally get home, you find your mouth hurts from smiling so much.

William never comes into work that day.  
  


*******

  
  


He knows where he’s going, the destination is clear. It’d been a while of agonizingly painful traveling. ‘Traveling’ being used in reference to him just dragging himself across the ground. Walking had been absolute  _ torture _ , and he’d already been put through enough! He’ll be able to walk again, soon. Now, he doesn’t get anxious or worried about much, but…

He  _ is  _ nervous at this point in time. Nervous about what he’s supposed to say, anxious about the response he might get. Taking deep, shuddery breaths as he hauls himself into the rickety old elevator, he reflects on his past.

Not only that, he thinks about all of those who he has hurt.

With a dry, humorless laugh, he shakes his head. The list of ‘victims’ was high, startlingly so. Most of them deserved what they got, but a handful…

That’s why he was here. To… apologize, something he’s hardly ever done. Because, believe it or not, in whatever he has left of his heart, he regrets.

He regrets the fates he led on to the very few people he tried to keep close.

  
  
  
  


Deep below ground,

where memories sleep;

_ Anger is restless _ ,

and secrets don’t keep.

Two figures argue in the darkness that surrounds them. The smaller of the two struggles to keep their voice in check. The other quarrels with a strict expression and calm voice.

“He has  _ hurt  _ you again and again,” the taller one repeats over and over. The smaller figure shakes their head.

“You didn’t know him before everything went to shit!” they nearly cry out, frustration peeking in through every crack of their voice. “You didn’t see how he cared for me.”

“ ‘ _ Cared for you _ ’?” the taller one repeats in utter disbelief. They lean down to roughly grab the other by the shoulders. “Listen to yourself.  _ He’s  _ the reason you- and all of us- are down here in the first place.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

A choked exclamation escapes the taller one. “ _ Everything  _ was his fault. How do you not see that? Honestly, it’s as if you’ve lost it!”

“I lost it long ago.”

With an annoyed huff, the taller figure frowns down at the smaller figure. They let go, and step back with a few sharp  _ clicks _ .

“Fine,” they hiss, and the anger in their voice makes the figure standing in front of them pause. “ _ Fine _ . Believe what you want to believe, invite him in, and forgive him. But as  _ long as I’m here  _ I will  **despise** him as everyone should.”

Their words are chilling, in an odd way, and the smaller figure grits their “teeth” and stubbornly stares at the ground as the other figure walks away.

Right. As if  _ they  _ could decide if he’d be forgiven or not. It wasn’t up to them.

With a heavy imitation of a sigh, the figure’s shoulders sag. It’s all too much. It’s been  _ years  _ since they- since  _ she  _ had died. It was time to forgive what had happened.

  
  
But did he  _ deserve _ her forgiveness?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i just NEEDED to thank you all for your support this far. like OH MY GOD im just- i cannot wrap my head around it. i love you all so much and every comment i see makes me squeal with joy. anyways, really hope y'all enjoy this next chapter!! i adore writing this story for you all <3 <3


	18. closing down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "i don't know how i feel about fnaf x reader fics," i said. "this'll probably be a more subtle freddy x reader thing," i said. i was a fool once.

You get a call in the morning, a few days later. The shrill ringtone rouses you from sleep, and you sit up, rubbing your eyes. It was early- way earlier than you’d have woken up to get to work.

“Hello?” you say, picking up your phone without checking who was calling.

“Oh, uh, hey, Y/n!” Matt’s voice comes in from the other end. You blink in surprise.

“What’s… what’s up?” you ask, confused as to why he’d be calling. And… how’d he even get your number?

“Um, you need to come in to work now. There’s… Basically, uh, our boss is… missing. Y’know how he hasn’t shown up these past few days? Y-Yeah, um… and the- the police wanted to question all the employees,” Matt explains.

You feel a bead of sweat form on your forehead, and you swallow. “Right. Okay, I’ll- I’ll be right over. Um. May I ask how you got my number?”

Matt chuckles, almost awkwardly. “I was asked to call everyone in?”

“Oh! Oh, right, okay. I’ll be there in a bit.”

You hang up and let out a heavy sigh. What a perfect start to the day. You drag yourself out of bed and start to get ready for the mess you’re about to endure.

Each employee is individually pulled aside and questioned. Your stomach churns with anxiety when it’s finally your turn. You can barely register each question and come up with a suitable answer. You struggle to keep your voice from shaking with every word that tumbles out of your mouth.

Eventually with a sharp nod and a few notes scribbled down they move on to the next employee. You try to let go of as much tension as you can, but it’s difficult with all of the people surrounding you.

In the end, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza will be closing until… William is found, basically. You know the chances of that are extremely low, and even if he was found… What would that lead to?

Not bothering to stress your mind out with piles and piles of questions, you just… stand there. After a few moments you feel a tap on your shoulder and turn around sharply. Carolynn faces you with a nervous smile and timid wave.

“Uh… guess who’s taking over for Mr. Afton until he’s found?” she tells you. You blink in surprise.

“Who, Jordan?” you guess with a teasing look in your eyes. Carolynn and you share a chuckle.

“No… that’d be horrific.” You nod your agreement. “But… it’s me!”

“Oh. Wow, uh, congrats?” You’d honestly expected this, but now that it’s actually happening… Just, wow.

“The place is still gonna be closed for a little bit, though. Even then, we’re still gonna need a night guard to watch over everything,” Carolynn explains. You stare at her, wondering where she’s going with this.

“Will you take the position?” she blurts out finally.

“Huh?” Your mind whirls. What about all the other employees? Not that you wouldn’t take up the job, but it didn’t make much sense.

“Oh, well, you see, Mike quit. And Jeremy- oh, he’s just exhausted so I’m giving him a break.” Carolynn begins to look a bit desperate, and you frown in sympathy.

“Mike quit?”

“Threw his hands up and said he was done with the place! Can you believe it?” The poor woman is beginning to come off as a little… but you shake it off. Of course she’s going to be this way, imagine just having to take charge of an entire restaurant! However, you don’t doubt that once things calm down, Carolynn will be great at the job.

“Unbelievable,” you mutter. “Yeah, I’ll take the position. I got you covered, ‘Care.”  _ It’ll just be more time to spend with Freddy anyways… _

Carolynn’s face breaks into a beaming smile that has you feeling at ease. “Oh, thank you so much, Y/n! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

“So,” you grin, “when do I start?”

With a light laugh and a nervous expression, Carolynn says, “Tonight?”

*******

  
  


The familiar eerie feeling that hits you when you enter the pizzeria unsettles you. It always manages to, and you aren’t sure if it’s the buzzing noise that follows you everywhere or how the darkness makes everything seem abandoned.

With a huff you stride past the stage, sparing a glance at the dormant animatronics. You smile up at them as you walk by, and you swear you can see Freddy’s ears twitch.

The same old musty office is almost a comforting sight, and you settle down at the same old rickety chair. You drum your fingers against the arms of the chair for a moment, just gazing around the room. Then, you lean forward to grab the camera tablet and spend the next few minutes flicking through it.

Everything seems as it should be. Bonnie and Chica are discussing something at one of the party tables, you notice. A few times they look up at the camera and wave, which makes you smile. Foxy appears to be… sleeping, in his cove? If it can be called sleeping. He’s all curled up beside the purple star-speckled curtains, chest rising and falling to mimic breathing. You let out a small snort when he opens his one eye, peering up at the camera.

However, one thing you note as strange is that… Freddy is nowhere to be seen. You frown down at the tablet, trying to search for him, but you don’t find anything. With a disappointed sigh, you sink down a bit in the chair, mindlessly looking through all the cameras.

After yet another few minutes you think you hear a low giggling noise. You strain your ears, trying to hear for it again, but there’s only silence. Maybe you imagined it?

You move on from the cameras and begin spinning around in your chair, debating if you should leave the office. It’s awfully boring, and you want to see your friends. But something tells you that… it’d be dangerous if you were to leave, so you stay put.

Footsteps. You hear footsteps.

You sit up in your chair, falling silent immediately. Something is coming towards you from the right hall. You wheel the chair to the doorway, pressing the light button and peeking out to see who it was.

There was… nothing.

You squint into the darkness, trying to see if someone was hiding from you, but you can’t pick out anything. With a grumble, you pull your head back into the office, and try checking the cameras. Your heart is starting to pick up now.

But, still, there’s nothing to be seen. In your frustration, you don’t notice the light padded footsteps coming closer to you, slowly picking up into a run.

By the time you  _ do  _ hear it, it’s too late.

A large weight is thrown across your shoulders, two long things locking themselves across your chest. You let out a sharp cry of surprise, hands shooting up to grab onto whatever was holding you. Your heart hammers in your chest as you try to pry it off you.

Something leans down next to your head, and you swallow.

“I got you,” Freddy breathes against your ear.

You can’t form words for a moment. Then, you break out in anger.

“You asshole, you scared me!” You twist around to meet the bear’s amused grin. He lets out a rumbling laugh and you groan in frustration, but you can’t stop a smile from forming.

“So, you’re the nightguard now, huh?” Freddy asks, slowly letting go of you. You roll your shoulders back, nodding.

“Only for a bit, ‘till this place reopens.”

“And that’ll be in, what… a week or something?”

You hum, trying to remember if Carolynn told you when the restaurant would reopen. “I actually don't know. At least.”

“Hey, at least we get the place to ourselves, huh?” Freddy gives you a look resembling a smirk. You find yourself raising an eyebrow.

“What’re you suggesting?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe  _ this _ .”

He then pushes you off your chair, catching you by surprise. You tumble to the ground, the large bear animatronic falling with you. Laughter spills out of you both, and you scoot back to lean against the wall. It’s surprisingly comfortable as Freddy basically rests on top of you, head in your lap. You bring your hands up to place them on his head.

“It’s always so scary at night,” you comment, eyes drifting to look at the dark, gaping doorways on either side of the office.

“We’re all used to it,” Freddy says. “Don’t worry, there aren’t any  _ monsters  _ or anything.”   


You giggle. “Just sentient animatronics!”

You both share another small laugh. The silence that follows is comfortable. You idly mess around with the fluff atop the bear’s head, and notice his eyes have closed. Your fingers dance around, sliding lower to his back.

“Say, um, what was the deal with this back panel?” you ask, remembering the whole incident a little while back. You tap it lightly, and Freddy brings his shoulders up slightly.

His ears twitch. “Hm, well it’s basically the  _ inside _ of me. And, y’know, what happens when you touch the inside of a person?” he replies sleepily.

Your mouth drops open, horrified. Your hands freeze up, and your mind goes blank. Does- does he even see your reaction? His eyes are still closed, and it doesn’t seem like he’s noticed…

“Oh,” you mumble dumbly. Your face is burning up. Nothing happens for a few stretched out moments until Freddy wiggles his ears again, impatiently.

With an almost-awkward huff of laughter, you bring your hands back up and comb your fingers through his fur. A few minutes of you just petting him on the head pass until you notice a new sound.

It’s like a low rumbling… you think for a moment, recognizing the sound. It was coming from Freddy, and you’d heard him make it before. It reminds you of a purring cat, and your mouth falls open slightly in wonder. You hold back a giggle.

The soft moment fills you with warmth and utter happiness. Who knew this is where you would’ve ended up, with an animatronic bear sprawled across your lap?  _ Purring _ ?

“I’m surprised your fur is this soft,” you say quietly.

“Mm, Matt cleaned it a few days ago,” Freddy mumbles back.

“You know his name?” you ask in surprise.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

You shrug. “I mean, aren’t you always powered off whenever you’re getting repairs?”

“Well, I heard everyone being introduced to you, so I learned all their names then,” Freddy explains. You let out a small ‘oh’ in understanding. A thought then occurs to you, out of the blue.

You’re hesitant to ask, but your curiosity would only grow. If anything, it  _ has  _ been growing, ever since the springlock failure.

“Hey… who exactly  _ is _ Cassidy?”

Freddy’s ears perk up, and his eyes slide open. He stares up at you, not answering right away. Finally, he coughs out, “One of the spirits. You know that, don’t you?”

“I mean, how come I’ve never seen her before… that night? She possesses an animatronic too, right? But there are only four of you…”

“Well,” Freddy begins, “we aren’t the only animatronics here. Y’know how we had Spring Bonnie? We also have Fredbear.”

“Fredbear…? Oh- the one used in the previous location?” With Freddy’s nod, you connect the dots. “Cassidy possessed Fredbear?”

“Mhm.”

“But where was she? Surely she would’ve come out at some point…”

Freddy pauses, not meeting your curious gaze. “It would’ve been a little risky. That, and she didn’t want to. We tried to convince her to leave that old Parts and Services room, really. But she was… angry.”

“Rightfully so,” you mumble. You feel a strong sense of sympathy for Cassidy. And now she was missing entirely. You hope Charlotte will be able to find her.

“Don’t worry,” Freddy says softly, giving you a small smile. “I’m sure things will end up okay. We’ve already gotten this far, haven’t we?”

“Yeah,” you smile back. “We have.”

*******   
  


“ _ I’m sorry _ ,” he croaks out. “I never wanted this. I tried to keep you safe.”

  
  
  


She’s getting closer with every passing moment.

  
  
  


The one standing before him frowns. “I know,” she says softly.

  
  
  


He will  _ not  _ get away this time. He will pay.

  
  
  


“I  _ acknowledge  _ that you can’t forgive me,” he spits out, staring at the ground shamefully. “I just… I miss you.”

  
  
  


She toys with the idea of creating an eternal hell for him. It’s a comforting thought.

  
  
  


“You’re right, I can’t forgive you,” she replies nonchalantly. “But I recognize that I shouldn’t hold this against you.”

  
  
  


Oh, Charlotte’s probably after her. Hopefully by the time she’s found, he’ll already be suffering at her hands.

  
  
  


“But please, tell me.”

  
  
  


She grins at that. She wants to hear his screams, witness his agony. Was that a bad thing?

  
  
  


“Who are you running from, father?”

Before her, a bloodied mess of a rabbit shrinks beneath her gaze. She can easily see the guilt he wears on his face. Strangely enough, the entire situation just makes her feel tired.

“Lizzie-”

“No. You don’t get to call me that,” she snaps, and he flinches. They’ve switched positions now- he is at her mercy, and she holds all the power.

“I’m sorry,” her father repeats. “I need a place to stay before they find me.”

Of course, she knows who he’s talking about. With a curt nod, she says coldly, “Fine. I’ll let you stay here.” He brightens up, ears raising slightly.

“ _ But _ ,” the clown animatronic begins walking back, “you need to prove to me that you actually care. That you’re actually sorry.”

“Of course, Elizabeth,” he breathes out, and this time his expression is unreadable. “I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you.”

“Don’t you ever forget that you are the reason we are trapped down here in the first place,” Elizabeth growls, and a part of her feels bad about being so cruel to her own father.

  
  
  


Nearby, a lone spirit pushes forward. With every aching step she feels a pull, screaming at her to return to the very thing she’s tied down to. The beaten yellow bear calls out to her, but she ignores him.

With every aching step, Cassidy smiles wider.

  
  
  
_ Oh William, just you wait. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah um the end part might be a bit confusing- to clear it up, it's switching back and forth from what cassidy is doing/thinking to what william and elizabeth are doing. otherwise i hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	19. newcomer

The night shifts drag on to be a tad… uneventful. You aren’t complaining, though. It’s almost nice. The silence tends to get filled with Bonnie and Chica’s bickering nonsense, and you usually hear it down in the office. Occasionally, Foxy will race down one of the hallways, scaring you to death. Usually he’ll run so fast he trips over his own feet. Whenever that happens you can’t help but burst out laughing, and he always grumbles and skitters back down the hall to his cove. What a cute lil’ guy.

The past few shifts you’ve been spending with Freddy, however. Usually just talking, but a few times you’ve fallen asleep resting against him. Tonight was one of those times. Except you were having a little trouble.

You wake up, disoriented and uncomfortable. You try shifting a little, but something is… off. No matter how exhausted you are, you just can’t fall back asleep.

Through the darkness, looking up, you see one of Freddy’s eyes slide open. They brighten up, casting a soft glow on your face. You blink, eyes adjusting to the light.

“Something wrong?” Freddy asks, tilting his head slowly.

“I can’t seem to sleep,” you mumble back, sighing.

“Maybe I could help?”

You look back up at him, curious. “How?”

He chuckles, almost sheepishly. “I could… play my music box? That usually calms the kids down.”

“Your music box…” you echo. “Wait… is that what- is that what always made me so tired?”

“Huh?”

You sit up a bit, straightening. “Y’know, all those times when I first got the job? And when- when you first caught me after hours?”

Freddy’s eyes light up a bit more. He looks embarrassed. “Oh… Yeah… Sometimes it can, um… cause paralysis, in certain situations. It’s how I’d, ah, catch the previous night guards…”

“ _ Oh _ .” That makes sense. But also it doesn’t. You’re too tired to bother questioning it.

You slump against him, your way of telling him to continue. Freddy stares for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Then, his eyes glow, and soft, muffled music begins to play.

It’s a tune you might’ve heard when you were a child. Upbeat and cheerful, but also smooth and calming. It has a different effect on you now, since it wasn’t being used to hurt you. Your body eases into a more comfortable position, and with that, you slowly drift off to sleep.

Your dreams are pleasant.

  
  


“Busy day, huh?”

You turn your head to see Jordan slinking around the corner. Your mouth pulls up into a smile. “It’s been a while,” you eye them, noticing they haven’t changed one bit.

The pizzeria has opened, and for whatever reason it’s still just as popular as before. Surprisingly. Maybe everyone was desensitized from the  _ first  _ missing persons incident. Or maybe they were all just curious, trying to sniff around and see if anything had happened.

Carolynn had her hands full, and you weren’t all that jealous. As the day progressed things seemed to get a bit easier. You didn’t get many breaks throughout the day and by the end of it you were left exhausted.

You were busy putting a broom away in the supplies closet- yes,  _ that  _ supplies closet, when you heard a giggle. You tear your tired eyes towards the source of the sound, and found near the floor an area shrouded in darkness. You’re too tired to give a shit, and let out a huff when two bright white eyes blinked up at you.

“Yeah? Having fun down there or something?” Your tone comes across as rude, and you didn’t mind one bit.

“Oh, much, my dear,” comes the upbeat reply. You let your shoulders sag when a familiar figure perked up from the shadows. It’s still blurry, like from that one dream you had, and seems to flicker faintly.

“What do you want? What vague information do you have for me  _ this  _ time?” you ask, and you can’t even bring yourself to care at this point. You don’t know how you can even tell, but a frown pulls at the figure’s mouth.

“You aren’t intrigued by my appearance? You aren’t the least bit curious?” It seems to pout, sounding hurt.

“I’m  _ tired _ ,” you grumble, and hastily shove the broom against a shelf where it probably doesn’t belong.

“I used to get tired too, y’know.” The shadow lets a drawn-out sigh escape it, and you refrain from rolling your eyes.

“Used to?” you echo, raising an eyebrow. The rabbit brightens up at your question, carefully lifting one foot and then the other until it’s hovering in front of you. What a show off.

“I used to be like you!” it clarifies, and that makes you pause.

“You mean… human? Alive?” How had you never considered it? You’ve seen ghosts before, but… this one was different. Dark. Mysterious. Annoying.

“Ding ding ding!” the shadow exclaims. You let your mouth fall open into a silent ‘oh’.

“So what happened?” you ask, casually leaning against the wall of the closet.

“Long story short, that Afton guy used to be my boss! Hired me as some sorta costume performer, with the suits.” The shadow’s eyes droop, reminiscing in the memories. “But, well, they were practically death traps! Before Afton died in it, that old rabbit suit was  _ my _ tomb.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” you cut in, blinking rapidly. “ _ You _ ? Died? In the suit?”

The shadow chuckles sorrowfully. “A horrible way to go, isn’t it? I can’t remember my name, or who I was. It’s been a while…”

“There were two spring lock suits,” you remember suddenly. “Who wore the other one?”

“Oh, my coworker? He might be around here somewhere…” The shadow tilts its head up, eyes scanning your surroundings. “He died the same way. After me, he got scared, but Afton told him not to worry. Didn’t seem to work out though, huh?”

“Do…” You swallow, mind jumping back to the horrific springlock failure you witnessed. “Do you have  _ any _ kind of name? Anything I can call you?”

The shadow straightens, smiling and revealing its glowing teeth. “RWQFSFASXC,” it says, and you furrow your eyebrows.

“What?”

“RWQFSFASXC,” it repeats, mouth not moving according to its words. You have no idea what it just said, what  _ any  _ of that meant. It was speaking backwards, you think.

With a grumble, the shadow shakes its head and tells you instead, “Just call me RWQ.”

“I’m gonna call you Bun-Bun,” you grin.

“You aren’t going to call me that.”

“Why not, Bun-Bun?”

“Because…” The shadow struggles to come up with a reason, frustrated with your teasing.“Because that’s the  _ other  _ rabbit’s nickname!”

“Who, Bonnie?” you can’t help but snicker. At first, this shadow creature seemed so intimidating, so startling. You were restless every night, anxious you’d turn and see it. Now, though? You can see it almost like a friend, one to poke fun at and rebound with shared laughter.

RWQ glares at you and you end your laughter with a snort. You want to ask them about their coworker, and if you could see them. You  _ do _ want to know more, but before you can open your mouth, the dreadful rabbit waves goodbye and sinks into the shadows.

You didn’t even finish the conversation. What?

Your somewhat pleasant mood drops, and you refrain from throwing your head back in frustration. You stride out of the closet, eyes on the floor. Of course they would leave right when you were actually getting along. Right when you weren’t scared of them.

You nearly slam into Carolynn, who has an armful of papers. You jolt backwards before hitting her, eyes widening slightly.

“Oh, Y/n!” Carolynn exclaims, grinning.

“Oh, jeez, ‘Care I’m so sorry…” you apologize, but she waves her hands quickly.

“I’ve got some good news,” she grins, eyes darting to the papers in her hands and back to you. “We’ve got a new night guard! So this will be your last week, and you’ll be able to get sleep on work days.”

“Oh,” you nod, wondering if you should be disappointed or not. Could the animatronics handle another guard? Would… would they hurt them? You suppress a shudder, making a mental note to confront them about what would happen next week.

“What’s their name?” you ask, wanting to get some information about the newcomer.

“Michael,” Carolynn replies, smile stretching further. “Similar to Mike, huh? What a coincidence!”

You agree, considering the name, and Carolynn proceeds to walk past you. You watch her leave, silently pondering everything that’s been happening. With RWQ’s new reveals, Michael’s soon-to-be arrival, and William staying missing… It’s enough to make your head spin.

Staying on the topic of Willian, you hope Cassidy is safe. And you hope Charlotte can find her. It’s been quite a while, and you can’t help but get a little nervous. But you know they’ll both be back soon, they have to be. You subconsciously smile at the thought of them returning during the day, throwing the door open to announce it and scaring all the customers.

But now isn’t the time for smiles and silly thoughts. It’s almost 8, you need to get home to get at least a few hours of sleep.

“Y/n!”

You look towards the person who called your name, and find it was Chica. She’s quickly approaching you, beak opened in a smile.

“Hey, Chi!” you greet her, smiling as well.

“I’ve just gotten a pizza out of the oven. It won’t be long before it cools, so c’mon! Sit down with the rest of us!” She grabs your hand and swiftly leads you to a table. Freddy, Bonnie and Foxy are sitting at it, discussing something unimportant.

You give them all a “hello”, sitting down next to Freddy. He gives your one of your hands a soft squeeze under the table, and you blink up at him. Out of the corner of your eye you notice Bonnie roll his eyes, and Foxy gives a thumbs up, tail wagging. Chica sets down a fresh, hot pizza in front of all of you, and you grab a slice. It’s too hot, and your finger burns, but you don’t put it down. You just push through it, blowing on it until you can bite a bit off.

“So,” Bonnie drawls boredly. “Anything happen?”

It’s a little awkward with you being the only one eating, but you speak up anyway. “There’s… going to be a new night guard. This is my last week.”

“Yer kiddin’!” Foxy exclaims.

“Not at all,” you continue. “His name is Michael. And, I was just wondering if-”

“Wondering if we’d hurt him?” Bonnie cuts you off. “Yeah, probably.”

“ _ Bonnie _ !” Chica gasps.

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” the rabbit says hurriedly.

“You shouldn’t joke about that, Bon,” Freddy says. “We don’t do that anymore.”

“So you guys will stay still all night?” you dare to ask.

“Ugh, that’ll be a pain,” Bonnie whines, leaning back in his seat.

“We  _ could _ always introduce ourselves to him!” Chica suggests hopefully. “Maybe he’ll be a new friend!”

“As long as you guys don’t hurt him,” you mumble, continuing to eat your pizza. The rest of the night dissolves into conversation and jokes; What the new guard will be like, the names of all the kids that are total bastards,  _ “Bonnie set the kitchen on fire again” _ .

It’s heartwarming, honestly. It feels like home.

The week passes in a blur.

  
  
  


It’s his first day as Freddy Fazbear’s new security guard. He’s a little nervous, but overall determined. He’s got a goal to complete, after all.

With steady steps, Michael Afton nearly throws the doors to the dingy pizzeria open. The atmosphere is completely different at night, he notes. He spots the animatronics, still on their stage, and visibly tenses. Would they recognize him as  _ him _ , or as his… father? He doesn’t want to make any mistakes, and he knows what his father has done to them. He also recognizes that he very much resembles his father, as much as he despises that fact. If all the animatronics saw was his dad when looking at him, he’ll be dead before it’ll turn 2 AM.

And he can’t afford to die. Not yet.

It’s a simple plan, really. Michal needs to talk to the spirits, he needs to talk to the children. He needs them to know he’s here to help them, not hurt them. But that’s not all. Michael suspects his- his younger brother is somehow linked to the very thing that murdered him.

He furrows his brows, pausing. No, that’s not right. It wasn’t the bear’s fault. He was the murderer, he was the one who killed his brother. The truth is a bitter remembrance on his tongue, bringing back flashes of that day. Michael shakes them off. He’s hopeful his brother still lingers.

Easily, Michael slips into the messy office. Papers litter the floor, and a creaky fan pushes warm air onto his face. He settles into the chair, picking up the cracked camera tablet. Boredly, he flips through some of the cameras and finds nothing out of the ordinary. Still, he knows that this place is far from ordinary.

It doesn’t take long for the rabbit to move. The thing starts at the end of the hallway, carefully walking up to the door. When it nears, Michael rolls the chair towards the large button, and slams the metal door shut. None of this is surprising.

What  _ is  _ surprising, however, is when a piece of paper slides underneath the door.

Brows furrowed, Michael leans down and snatches the thing up. He turns it over, and leans back in the chair confused. One glance towards the shitty plastic window proves that the rabbit is standing there, waiting.

On the paper, crudely scribbled out, depicts all four mascots; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy. But there’s something else; They drew Michael too. He’s in the middle of all of then, happily smiling alongside them. Scribbled out underneath the drawing reads one word.

“Friends?”

Michael is, to say the least,  _ shocked _ . Do they really not want to hurt him? Did the animatronics make this, or the spirits? Questions flood his mind, and once more, he looks up towards the still closed door. Bonnie hasn’t left.

Hesitantly, he reaches towards the button. He doesn’t want to risk it, but… is this the only way?

Without a second thought, Michael presses the button. The door slides up, revealing a dark gaping doorway. Slowly, a purple face peeks into the office, hands gripping both sides of the doorway.

Michael swallows, staring up at the thing, and prepares for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YALL IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I JUST COULDN'T PICK IT BACK UP FOR A WHILE- uhhh so did you enjoy this chapter?? i hope you did, it was a pain to write, but hopefully i'll be getting back into the swing of things. i've also gotten a few new projects started!! this includes TWO funtime freddy x reader fics, and a new fic about vanny and william/glitchtrap. i'm very excited to get into those!! alright, stay safe, drink water, and get plenty of rest!


	20. i found you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh, you wanted freddy x reader fluff? huh? is that it? no. you get PLOT.

Bonnie slowly approaches him, feet dragging across the ground. He stops in front of Michael, staring down at him with blackened eyes. Michael nervously raises his hand, waving meekly. Bonnie reaches down, grabbing his raised hand, and Michael freezes.

“Hey, new guy! Michael, is it? C’mon, we’ve got the others waiting in the main party room.” His voice is light and cheerful, not at all what Michael had expected, but really, what  _ had  _ he expected? They were animatronics, not absolute monsters.

“Uh- Okay,” Michael replies quietly, and his voice cracks embarrassingly. Bonnie grins at him in amusement, making him shrink further into his chair. The rabbit yanks him to his feet, forcefully but not with bad intentions, and starts dragging him out of the office.

Michael’s heart begins to pound, and he starts to doubt his decision. It could all be one big trick, couldn’t it? Bonnie could be taking him to the Parts and Services room to stuff him into a spare suit. Worry claws at him, and his fingers twitch. He wants to rip his hand away and run back to the office, to safety. His mind flashes to his brother, and he forces himself to follow Bonnie down the hallway calmly. This is for him, this is all for him.

In the main room, all the chairs have been pushed under the tables, just like when Michael had walked in. What  _ wasn’t _ like when Michael had walked in, however, was the stage. It was empty of animatronics.

His eyes dart to a single table, and it’s hard to believe he isn’t hallucinating. He’s had problems with hallucinations before, and the memories of early ones always make him shudder slightly. Recently, he’s been seeing pale flickering children. He’s not entirely sure if they’re real or fake at this point, with everything about his father resurfacing.

Bonnie pulls him closer to the table, and now he can make out everything clearly. There, sitting and discussing… whatever, were Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and-

Michael frowns. Foxy’s missing? Where could he even go? Bonnie notices him glancing around, and chuckles.

“That dumbass might be around here somewhere,” he informs Michael, leading him closer to the table. Freddy turns and huffs at him,

“ _ You’re _ the dumbass, dumbass.” Michael finds himself freezing. The damn bear looks so serious, and being the mascot of the pizzeria, his voice is loud and clear. He reminds Michael of a boss at an old summer job.

“Oh, that’s him?” Freddy continues, noticing Michael. Michael lifts a shaky hand to wave. Chica leans towards him, placing her hands on the table.

“Hey new guy!” she greets him excitedly, and a loose chuckle escapes him. Michael sits down across from both Chica and Freddy, and Bonnie sits next to him. With how close he is to the animatronics, he feels his skin crawl uncomfortably, but pushes the uneasiness away. He has a few things he wants to- no,  _ needs  _ to ask.

The animatronics ask him a few things, and it’s just mindless small talk for a bit. Each minute that passes is agonizingly slow, but Michael can’t find a good time to ask about his brother and the infamous golden bear. Not only that, the robots keep surprising him every second! They’re  _ packed _ with personality, and he’s so close to considering them friends at this point. Maybe they are.

It doesn’t take long for Foxy to show up, running so fast he cuts a corner, hitting the wall and flying to the floor. And Michael can’t help it- he lets out a snorting laugh, cracking up until his sides hurt. When Foxy nearly slides across the floor he begins howling, alongside Bonnie who’d fallen onto the ground in his laughter too. Chica and Freddy chuckle politely despite the obviously hilarious situation.

Foxy grumpily gets up and plops down beside Chica, crossing his arms. Once everyone calms down, Michael remembers why he even came here. He clears his throat, and the animatronics turn to him.

“I, uh… I was wondering something,” he admits, quietly at first.

“Well don’t be so shy about it!” Foxy says loudly, and Michael has to stop himself from flinching. “What’s on yer mind?”

Michael hesitates. Swallows. Remembers. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he continues. “My brother… he died due to an animatronic-related incident,” he tells them all. His hands grow cold when his mind flashes back to the screams, the blood, and him dropping to his knees and  _ begging  _ for the bear to give him back his brother. His poor brother, who’s limp body was hanging out of the thing’s jaws, and  _ couldn’t he have done something, why can’t he just forget it- _

“Er, Michael?” Chica pipes up nervously. He snaps out of the memories, half surprised to see them all staring at him with worry or concern.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. But, um, I was just wondering if… I guess I just hoped he’d still be…” He can’t bring himself to say it, and he honestly doesn’t even know what word he’s looking for.  _ Around? Here? _

“Which animatronic?” Freddy asks, ears perked. “It couldn’t have been one of us… could it?”

“Oh, no!” Michael clarifies quickly. “It was… an older Freddy model, I think. Yeah, his name was- his name was Fredbear.” Just spitting out the name makes his mouth feel bitter, and he wants to recoil from the words.

Bonnie’s ears lift, and Chica’s eyes widen. Foxy’s jaw falls open with a creak, and he fumbles to close it again. Freddy stares silently at Michael, seemingly contemplating something.

“He’s in the back room, if you want to see him,” he says finally, and Michael’s heart  _ soars _ . Was he correct? Was his brother’s spirit still active? He wants to leap up right away and check. However, when Freddy continues, his joy drops immediately. “Though we don’t call him Fredbear anymore, and I don’t know if he’s active without Cassidy,” he explains. Of course he didn’t mean his brother. Michael slouches slightly, and he has to remind himself not to be rude. He can’t let his disappointment show, he  _ has  _ to stay hopeful.

“Okay. Thank you.” Michael stands, and so do the others. He pauses, eyes quickly glancing over all their faces. “Can I go alone? I just…” He doesn’t know how to describe it, he doesn’t exactly know why he wants to go alone. Maybe because it’s  _ his  _ brother?

“Oh, we get it!” Chica expression softens into what could pass as a smile, considering her beak. She sits back down, and the rest hesitantly do so as well. “It’s something important, right? You go on alone, we’ll be waiting here.”

“Er- Just be careful! He can be a bit… unpredictable,” Freddy warns, and Michael nods. Wordlessly, he trails away from the table, and from his new friends.

Walking through dark, deserted hallways he lets his mind wander. The building is freezing now, frigid air reaching him beneath long sleeves and pants that are too big. His footsteps echo, the only other sound being the low buzzing of the entire establishment. An eerie ambiance keeps Michael alert and ready to throw a punch if needed.

He doesn’t know what to expect, if he should try to expect anything at all. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up in case he’ll be disappointed. Michael curls his hands into fists when the temperature seemingly drops several degrees, and begins walking faster to the back room. He just wants to get this all over with. He wants to know if his brother is still there.

Another moment of walking and Michael Afton stands in front of the door to the infamous Freddy Fazbear’s back room. He hesitates. This was where it happened too, wasn’t it? This was where his father…

He pushes the door open with a creak, squinting into the darkness. Michael can make out a table and a few scattered chairs. In the corner, slumped over, lies a figure. He knows who it is.

Carefully, Michael approaches. He doesn’t want to… scare it, or something? Or maybe he’s scared himself.

He kneels down, a few feet away. It’s silent for a moment, and he licks his lips, unsure of what to say. When he quietly clears his throat, he thinks he sees the bear’s ear twitch.

“Hello?” Michael whispers, tilting his head to try and get a better look at the animatronic. “Are you… awake?”

Its mouth twitches, and Michael nearly jumps back. His heart rate picks up, and he tries to calm himself unsuccessfully. “Can you hear me?”

There’s no response for a moment, but then, faintly…

_ Í̸̳t̸̡̞̱̙́'̸͖͍͗̽̏̕s̸͇̚ ̵̝͗m̴̨̨͚̙̈́̄̆e̶͓̪̒.̷̜͔̥̉̽͝ _

Michael’s heart hammers in his chest, and he doesn’t realize that there was a whisper in the air for a second. Was it the bear? Was it talking to him?  
“What was that?” he says, trying to get it to speak again.

Ḭ̵̆t̵͓̉'̴̬̔ṣ̸̓ ̵̣̈́m̸̧̀ĕ̵͚.̸̻͋

Yes, the bear  _ did  _ say something. Michael strains his ears, trying to decipher what it said. He waits for it to repeat itself, but it doesn’t. Finally, Michael asks,

“C.C.?”

**_It’s me._ **

He hears it now, loud and clearly in his head. ‘It’s me’, the bear said. Does that mean…? Michael scoots closer to the unmoving robot. “C.C.? Is that you? Can you see me?”

The bear’s head tilts slowly towards him, mouth hanging open, and Michael freezes. A chill races down his spine, goosebumps crawling up his arms. Something about the blank, dead eyes made him want to disappear. Michael mentally prepares himself, and then reaches a hand out with a comforting smile.

The bear doesn’t move again for a moment. Until, finally, Michael sees something. A small, flickering figure, pale and ghostly white. Two endless streams of indigo tears run down the sides of its face. It wears an achingly familiar black and grey striped shirt, and the face-

Michael audibly gasps.

The other’s eyes widen.

“Michael.”

It’s been years since he’s heard his voice. It changed drastically, no longer wavering, no longer scared. It isn’t a question; It’s just his name. Tears spring up in Michael’s eyes. His brother’s expression hardens, turning into something cold.

Michael recoils at the look, drawing his outstretched hand back. Oh, god, he  _ hopes  _ his brother has forgiven him. He don’t know what he’d do if he didn’t.

C.C. drifts forward, expression unreadable. It takes until then for Michael to remember he’s still on his knees. He probably looks pathetic.

“Why did you come here?” C.C. whispers, and Michael feels a stab of pain at the underlying anger in his tone.

“I- I wanted to know if you were still here… Because with everything father has been… experimenting with, I thought maybe-”

“Okay, so I’m still here,” C.C. cuts him off. Michael shrinks underneath his angry expression. “Now what? Are you still going to scare me, and make fun of me? Do you still want to see me cry?” He spits the words out, and Michael is horrified. In a split second he regrets every moment he terrified his brother with that dumb old mask, every second he jumpscared him and laughed when he begun to cry.

He remembers his brother pleading with him to put him down, and he remembers laughing and carrying him closer to Fredbear. It’s burned into his memory, and he can’t shake the guilt away.

“I’m sorry,” he tries to say, and his mouth barely moves. C.C. hears him, somehow, and his angry expression melts somewhat.

C.C.’s shoulders slump, and he almost looks defeated. “I heard you,” he admits finally, “when I was dying. I heard your apology, and I…”

Michael’s breath catches in his throat. Hopeful eyes widen, staring desperately at the ghost of his brother.

“I forgive you.”

It takes him a moment to register the words, but when he does, he breaks out into a smile, standing with a jump. Words gush out of his mouth, hundreds of thought-out apologies in those first few months after his passing. He wants to hug C.C. so badly, he wants to  _ prove  _ he’s missed him, and that he’s sorry.

“I treated you so horribly,” Michael says, and there are tears falling down his face. His words tremble. “I treated you so horribly and no one ever batted an eye. I didn’t think twice about anything I did. And you had to pay the price for  _ my  _ actions.”

C.C. can’t respond; In all the years he’d been alive, his brother had never acted so sincere. It shocks him, and makes him realize Michael truly does mean each word he says.

“Michael, it’s okay,” he manages to respond, drifting forward, unsure of what to do. Should he try to hug him? What should he say? How does Michael expect him to act? He’s aged mentally at least 10 years, he feels like he’s mature enough to… to what?

Luckily Michael’s apologies dry up, and C.C. doesn’t have to think about what to do anymore. He straightens with a determined expression, and looks him in the eye.

“I’ve found you, but I’m not stopping here. If you’re still around then maybe… maybe our sister is too,” he says. C.C.’s mouth opens slightly.

“Lizzie!” he exclaims. “Oh, why didn’t I think to look for her?” He floats towards the ground, upset. “She must be so lonely… I wonder if she misses us.”

“I’m sure she does. Um, so, does… does  _ he  _ move without you?” Michael sharply nods downwards towards the bear. C.C. whips around.

“No, I don’t think so. At least I’ve never seen him move without me or…” C.C. trails off, and Michael frowns.

“Is there anyone else? Am I missing something here?”

Turning back to Michael, C.C. quickly explains, “There’s another spirit, Cassidy. So much has happened while you were gone, father had a springlock failure, Cass went to look for him, and then Charlotte-”

“Woah!” Michael raises his hands, mind whirling with new information. “Could you explain it more slowly?”

“Father is dead, I think. But also alive. Like me, and the other kids with the animatronics. Then he disappeared, and Cassidy left to look for him!” His brother’s expression turns concerned. “It’s been forever, and Charlotte’s been gone too because she’s looking for Cassidy and-”

Michael settles a hand on C.C.’s shoulder. Or, well, tries to. His hand passes right through, and his entire arm feels like he just plunged it into a bucket of ice water. He shudders, giving his brother a hopeful smile.

“Right, I’m sure there’s more time to explain in detail. I’ve got a few hours left in my shift, what do you say we head out to the main room and you can  _ really _ fill me in?” Michael suggests. C.C. nods, glad to have a reason to finally leave the back room. He was always a little scared of the others, but now that Michael is here… maybe it’ll make talking to them easier.

They both exit the back room, taking their time to return to the others. Michael is a bit nervous, but overall filled with a new determination to find Elizabeth. If C.C. is still around, surely she is, right?

They’re mostly silent on the way back, but it’s a comfortable silence. C.C. is glad to be reunited with his brother, and Michael is just glad he’s been forgiven. The pieces are slowly falling into place, and Michael is sure he’s just about to find the most important one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked the chapter, even though reader isn't in it! i dont really know how to write michael and c.c.'s interactions? i dont want it to come across as creepy and maybe like a ship thing because that's gross?? idk it could just be a weird fear but im still a bit worried it'll come across that way. maybe im worrying too much


End file.
